The Sorceress and the Grim
by Alissa the gummybear
Summary: The tale of two lovers who are destined to live their lives apart. Who were destined to protect the world they lived in and by being together they were succumbed to the curse of knowing when the other was going to die and not be able to intervene. Starts in Marauders time and progresses into the HP books.
1. The binding

I'm back with a new story and slowly working on the others, a majority of them will probably be deleted. This time it's a whole new me with hopefully better grammar. Anyway in this story we watch as two ancient pure blooded lines join and grow up together each facing trials and tribulations and ending up on two different sides of magical world.

**Summary-: **Sirius Black has his life turned upside down from the age of four when his family join forces with Merlins last remaining heir. Growing up together is the easy part even with the trouble it brings but it's the future that is Sirius' hardest task after his greatest Grandmother Morgainne le fay nee' Black tasks him with something that is not only going to change his very history but will also change everything his family stands for by accepting his true form, the grim itself. Starts pre Hogwarts.

**The Sorceress and the Grim**

**Chapter one**

**The Binding.**

_A binding, a ritual that prolonges the life of a dying family through the exsistence of two souls living as one. A ritual that brings together two heirs destined to change the world._

It was the summer of 1963 and in a small town called Dover in the south of England a cool breeze rustled the trees gently as a sleek black car pulled into the driveway of a countryside manor. The house of Rivas they called it, a home away from home for an old pure blooded family. A family as ancient and noble as the current family that stepped out of the car, The Blacks the most noble and ancient of them all. Walburga Black, a proud good looking woman, huffed to herself as she took in the muggle gardeners that tended to their duties before slowly turning to her husband, a tall dark haired man that came and stood beside her.

"No need to wait Alfred we will take the floo back to Grimmauld place." The man said.

"But of course Lord Black" said the driver as he bowed before Orion Black, head of the most Noble and Ancient house of Black.

"Hurry it up Orion; Ezra will have my head if we're any later than we already are." Walburga snapped as she took the hand of a young boy by her side.

"Patience dear wife it is Callcus I fear will be the more, irritable." Orion replied, smiling softly down at his son that stood patiently by his Mothers side.

Four year old Sirius Orion Black looked around at his surroundings before his hard gaze turned to an aged man hurrying towards them, his emerald green robes billowing behind them as he clutched parchment's to his chest. The man didn't spare the family a single glance before he apparated as soon as he stepped past the wards. Sirius couldn't help but pick up a hint of smoke and clearly noticed the burn on the mans arm. The young heir turned and looked up at his mother noticing even more clearly his Mothers prominent bump that carried his soon to be baby sister.

"Mother, why are we here again?" Sirius asked quietly.

"I have told you, we are here to meet someone who I hope will play a big part in your life." Walburga replied as she urged her son up the path towards the house.

"That is if the binding works, there is no guarantee it will." Orion put in as he followed after them.

"It will work; I will make sure of it." Walburga stopped shortly before the door and turned to her husband "The heir of Merlin will bring a great source of strength to the family which will make our enemies think much more carefully."

"That maybe the case, but how do we even know Alyssa even takes after her Mother. Ezra maybe a powerful sorceress but she's slowly spiralling downhill. It's as clear as the sky above us Walburga, Ezra will not last another harvest moon her powers have became too much for her. You know as well as I do it is eating away at her." Orion informed.

Before Walburga could reply the tall mahogany door opened and the house elf beside it bowed as he ushered the family inside. A blind man could easily see the nervous shaking of the elf as he closed the door behind them. Orion nodded as another house elf took the traveling cloaks the family discarded before they followed the first house elf towards the lounge. Sirius didn't pay any attention to what was in front of him but to the marking's that were etched into the pillars of the house and his gaze soon found it's way up to the ceiling were a huge chandelier hung elegantly above them. The young heir squinted slightly as he detected the same markings on the ceiling that were around the rest of the house.

"Hurry it up Sirius" Orion called as he motioned for his son to enter a nearby door.

Sirius snapped his head in his father's direction and quickly hurried inside his gaze taking in the all to familiar room. _Looks exactly like ours, typical._ Sirius thought as he paid no mind to the elf that was offering him a beverage but instead stared at an arrogant looking man sneering down at him, his greying hair pulled away from his face. Blue eyes stared into grey as the man smirked and turned to his father, Sirius couldn't help but shiver slightly.

"He looks just like you Orion" Callcus Rivas smirked. "He'll grow into a fine husband for my daughter."

"Ah, that is only if she takes after her mother that is." Orion replied, a hint of humour in his voice.

"Well don't you have a wicked tongue Orion, one might think Walburga would have whipped that thing into place by now" A voice said by the fireplace.

A lady dressed in navy blue robes rose from her chair, dark brown curls falling loosely around her strained face. Lines were etched across her young face making her appear older than what Ezra Rivas actually was. But the Black heir knew exactly why that was; everybody knew what magic did to the body that wasn't strong enough to support it. The 38 year old Sorceress had aged more than what her years were and looked twice that. Yet her warm green eyes still held the kindness she was known for and they soon quickly found Sirius' as she knelt down before him her smile warming his heart.

"Well don't you look handsome, I have heard a lot about you young heir." Ezra said warmly. "Your Mother speaks highly of you I trust you know why you are here."

"Yes, but I do not understand the meaning behind it." Sirius asked curiously, he hadn't failed to notice another figure sitting by the fireplace. Ezra quickly noticed this and smiled up at Walburga before standing up straight.

"Alyssa, come greet our guests." Ezra called.

The figure by the fireplace quickly stood up from their place on the floor and turned to greet the Black family. Four year old Alyssa Rivas curtsied gracefully in front of them, her dark brown hair falling around her shoulders. Young green eyes soon found grey as two heirs from two great magical lines met for the very first time. Something seemed to shift in the air as the two four year old youngsters stared and examined each other. Ezra smiled more wildly as she sensed the shift and turned her gaze to Walburga and Orion. Walburga's own expression mirrored Ezra's and the two old friends shared a knowing nod.

"Preparations must begin soon as the binding needs to be completed by sundown or else we will lose our chance." Ezra instructed as she lifted a cream and ivory book from the stand in the corner, beside it stood a darker green and black book under a glass case.

"Honestly, do you ever have those books in a safe place anybody could grab them." Walburga huffed as she studied the books of white and black magic.

"Let them try" Ezra huffed. "The wards around this house are just as strong as Grimmauld's; nobody is getting in unless I or Callcus lets them"

"Walburga is right Ezra those books need to be kept in a safer spot. When will you let me place them in the vault?" Callcus asked his wife with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"When I feel it is necessary, Merlin's beard I'm not completely handicapped just yet thank you very much. Old I maybe but I'm still a lot stronger than any of you." Ezra snapped.

"Humph, fine Ezra but don't say I never warned you" Walburga huffed before she turned to her son. "Sirius will you take Alyssa outside or somewhere, anywhere, just stay out of trouble. I can't have you breaking another vase."

"I keep telling you Mother that was Narcissa, I didn't break it." Sirius replied his eyes leaving Alyssa's for the first time.

"Of course it was now go, the grownups have some business to attend to"

Sirius and Alyssa were ushered out of the room before either could retort and he soon found himself staring at a closed door, the sound of footsteps leaving echoed behind him. The young heir turned and watched as Alyssa headed out into the gardens. Sirius couldn't help but notice her fingers from her right hand twitched in random movements as she walked.

"Are you going to stand there or are you coming with me." Alyssa called snapping Sirius out of his haze.

The young boy couldn't help but grumble as he followed after her knowing he had nothing else to do. _Must I always have to hang out with girls? _Sirius grumbled to himself as he followed the young brunette. Her fingers still continued to twitch in a movement that soon became irritating for the young boy.

"Is there something wrong with your hand for it to twitch like that" he enquired.

"He speaks" Alyssa replied her gaze watching a young woman in the garden. "I was beginning to think you were mute."

"My mother would have your tongue for talking to me like that" Sirius said "What is wrong with your hand"

"Believe it or not nothing is wrong, half the time I don't even know I'm doing it. Mother says it's the symbols on this house I'm tracing in the air, a subconscious thing." Alyssa replied haughtily.

_I hate this girl already,_ Sirius huffed to himself _Snotty brat_

"Do you have any clue about this binding thing they're going on about" Sirius asked as he sat on a step.

"Vaguely, Farther had me memorize every single line of the spell and what not. It's basically something that binds two powerful families together to prolong the life of a dying family. It's no common knowledge that my mothers dying, she won't be here to teach me how to be as powerful as her. But your mother will be able to." Alyssa informed as she turned to stare at Sirius.

"Do pray tell why my mother." Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "Wait, don't tell me. Because she's a Black witch, a witch from the dark ages, all powerful and crazy. Just like Grandmother."

"Which one Morgana or Morgaine?" Alyssa asked curiously.

"Morgaine of course, she's the only one alive or did your parents not teach you that." Sirius answered annoyance clear as glass in his young voice.

Alyssa never replied she just sat down on the step and curled her finger around her hair as she watched the sun glisten behind the trees. Sirius couldn't help but watch, his brows narrowing in confusion as he felt an unfamiliar pull inside him. Impatience got the better of him as he eventually sat down not bothering to brush away the dust on the step.

"You feel something funny inside don't you." Alyssa whispered.

"I don't like it and so far I don't like you."

"How nice of you to say but can I ask why."

"You haven't given me a reason to yet"

Again Alyssa didn't reply but instead hummed to herself as her hand curiously wrapped itself over Sirius' and squeezed reassuringly. The young Black stared at the girl and pulled it away as though he'd been electrocuted.

"You do what I do, get defensive in the company of those you don't know or in situations you don't like."

"Oh what would you know. "Sirius barked quickly before throwing himself on the floor. "I was happy enough teasing our house elf until my parents dragged me here, talking about some binding ritual that will help the family in ways they couldn't even imagine. Bullocks is all I say"

"That's a bad word." Alyssa added as she stared at him in amusement.

"Yeah I know, Father says it all the time before and after Grandmother Irma shows up. She's my mother's mom. Father doesn't seem to notice that I eavesdrop all the time, well he probably does just doesn't care I suppose."

"Is it weird how we're talking so easily now when we've never met before."

Sirius didn't reply he just nodded and stared up at the ceiling of the open conservatory noticing yet again the markings that he'd seen around the rest of the house. He soon remembered were he had seen them before and everything quickly fell into place as to why he was here.

"There are druid markings all over this house; they're from the old ways." Sirius said suddenly.

"Yes, Mother finds they add an extra bit of security on the house but Father doesn't think so. Mother has become quite paranoid lately and keeps saying she's going to die soon."

"It would explain why they're arranging a marriage between us."

"It's more than that, it's more than marriage. Mother taught me it would keep me safe, keep the family safe."

"Binding's only work for those who are destined for each other" Sirius whispered quietly.

"What did you say?"

Sirius never got a chance to reply as Callcus Riva's showed up behind them, ushering them inside and back towards the lounge. Sirius quickly noticed a sense of magic coming from the room and shivered at the strength of it, Alyssa sensed it as well and the young Black saw how she wrapped her arms around herself as a flicker of fear etched over her face.

"I take it you two got to know each other a little better." Ezra said, her smile seeming to be the only source of warmth in the room.

"There is no time for that, we need to get a move on if this is to work" Walburga interrupted impatiently.

Ezra nodded her expression hardening as she placed the two children in front of each other. Looking down both heirs noticed a pentagram drawn onto the floor yet inside the pentagram there were druid symbols that seemed to glow in the minimal lighting. Sirius slowly began to feel a trickle of fear seeping into him but he knew well enough if he let it show his parents would not be happy. The young heir couldn't help but look into the face of Ezra Rivas to find some comfort but instead his eyes caught the shinning eyes of her daughter instead. Sirius soon noticed the same fear he was feeling echoed loudly in her eyes and he couldn't help but walk forward and take her hand. But it was that exact moment when their hands touched did the pentagram glow brightly and a ghostly voice echoed around the room.

"On the eve of the harvest moon when magic is at it's highest I ask of thee, head of the noble house of Black do you submit your heir to the binding of souls." The voice of Ezra whispered in a cold voice.

"I do." Orion answered back and as he whispered those two words a beam of light wrapped itself around Sirius' hand and locked onto Alyssa's wrist.

"And do you head of the house of Riva's submit your heir to the binding of souls."

"I do." Callcus replied after a moment of silence before another beam of light wrapped itself around Alyssa's hand and locked onto Sirius' wrist.

"Then on this night I bind these two souls for eternity until death tears them apart or till the binding succumbs to commitment on the eve of their 21st birthday. If any soul see's any reason why these two children of magic should not be brought together let the ghost of their ancestors speak and divide the circle."

A moment of silence passed and before either one of them could speak Ezra raised her wand and a soft glow soon began to grow brighter, the two bands of light around Sirius and Alyssa's hands tightened and changed to a shade of red before a burst of white light filled the room. Within seconds the light disappeared and eyes that had been closed opened to see the two heirs still standing in their place, the pentagram no longer existent on the ground. Sirius blinked to clear his vision before noticing a thin silver band on his index finger glowing softly; he looked up and noticed the same on Alyssa's hand before he turned to his parents who each wore a proud expression on their face.

"It worked." Walburga smiled as she went forward and wrapped her arms around her son. "I am so proud of you Sirius."

Sirius didn't reply instead he watched behind his mother as Callcus Rivas sneered in clear annoyance at the successfulness of the binding. His gaze hardened as it caught the eyes of the young heir, yet with his hardened gaze Callcus Riva's slowly smirked wickedly before winking at the boy. Sirius watched as Callcus patted his daughter on the shoulder as she was hugged by her mother before leaving the room. Soon his gaze turned down to the ring on his finger and he began to wonder what his future had in store for him now as a thought that had been playing at the back of his mind since the very second he entered the house became more pronounced. A thought that he knew he should trust and trust in it he would. Turning his gaze back to the door Callcus had just left through Sirius watched through the crack as Callcus Rivas shoved open the hallway doors in pure anger.

_Don't trust Callcus, don't trust any of them.  
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	2. Trusting your instincts

**The Sorceress and the Grim**

**Chapter two**

**Trusting your Instincts. **

Nearly four years had passed since the binding and very little had changed. What was to be Sirius' younger sister turned out to be a little brother called Regulas Arcturus Black and became doted upon by his Mother. This didn't bother Sirius much as he spent very little time up at 12 Grimmauld place instead he was found where he always was, in the garden with his best friend Alyssa or Aly as he liked to call her. At the start Sirius had learnt to not trust the binding nor did he trust the family regardless of the things he heard but over time Alyssa and Ezra Rivas had wormed their way into his heart. So whenever things got to stressful for the young heir he would send an owl to Ezra asking to come over only for her to send the house elf to collect him with a message for him to bring an overnight bag. However his stay always ended up being longer than one night and he was always sent home with a pat on the back from Callcus, the one member of the family Sirius had grown to hate. Over time Callcus had become a touchy subject with the 8 year old Sirius and no matter how many times he explained to Alyssa that he just didn't trust her father she still continued to try and change his opinion.

"For the last bloody time Aly will you shut up? I hate your dad, I don't trust your dad and I never will like nor will I trust him for as long as there is breath in me" Sirius groaned for what seemed like the millionth time.

"Yes but why, why don't you. Can you at least explain that to me?" Alyssa asked as she kicked the snow up from the ground.

It was the 21st December and Sirius had just celebrated his 8th birthday on the 19th and every year he celebrated it with a trip to the healer to show that the young heir was still breathing. Every time the healer had been surprised to see the boy in perfect condition for someone who had been born 28 weeks premature. Sirius remembered his mother telling him that he hadn't meant to survive because of a curse on the family. The curse of the firstborn placed on the family by Morgana le Fay after she learnt her sister Morgaine had been alive and well after being classed as deceased. Every firstborn son of the Black family was either a miscarriage or still born and Sirius had been the first one to conquer that earning him the title of "Walburga's little miracle". He hated that title but he used it to his advantage when his cousins teased and picked on him for being slightly different. It wasn't much of a difference, Sirius just didn't find the torture of muggles, half bloods, muggleborns and innocent animals interesting nor did he find it fun. Unlike his cousin Bellatrix who had grown to be quiet psychotic and enjoyed such activities immensely. So for the past four years Sirius had ended up at the Riva's manor after every check-up which genuinely followed with his Mother fussing over every little thing he did.

"I still can't believe you have to keep going to that healer, what do they think is going to happen." Alyssa said, changing the subject.

"As if I know is that he probably thinks I'm going to kick the bucket. I'm a Black for Merlin's sake I'm not going anywhere. Mom would take a fit if I did die though, well so dad says." Sirius replied shrugging.

"I'm only 26 weeks premature yet I don't have to go see a healer every year."

"That's probably because your families not cursed, anyway I kind of like how there is only a two week difference between us." Sirius grinned.

"I'm starting to think it is, no one in my family has made it past 56. Mind you that's probably because they're all power hungry fools who have too much magic than they can handle." Alyssa complained.

"I'm bloody starving." Sirius intervened, changing the subject completely.

"You've just ate."

"I'm a growing boy" Sirius grinned as he tried to lead Alyssa inside. "Come on its freezing, plus you haven't given me my birthday present yet."

"Yes I have, your looking at it" Alyssa replied before Sirius could interrupt.

Nudging her in the arm Sirius chuckled as he dragged her inside out of the cold weather, to him however it never seemed to be that warm in the house either. Especially, Sirius had learned, when Callcus was nearby. For some reason Callcus had always made the air around Sirius go cold which just kept adding to the list of things he had that made him hate Alyssa's father even more.

"Ah there you are." Callcus called as he approached them from a side door. "Alyssa your mother is looking for you."

Alyssa, who had grown to be more silent around her father, nodded and headed up stairs where her mother was resting. Sirius went to follow after her but was stopped in his tracks as Callcus grabbed the boys arm. Trying to wrestle it free Sirius found the grip tightened and the older wizard leaned down until he was eye level with young boy.

"Your getting too close to my daughter Black, watch your step we wouldn't want anything happening to Walburga's little miracle now would we." Callcus snickered as he let go of the boys arm.

"Your empty threats mean nothing, did you know that." Sirius answered back.

Callcus just looked down at the boy sneering slightly at the boy's bravery to stand up to him. Laughing, Callcus just shook his head and headed towards the study where he spent a majority of his time. Sirius had tried countless times to find out what it was he did in there but seeing as Callcus worked in the Department of Mysteries Sirius knew he wouldn't find much. Shaking the thoughts out of his head Sirius went to head upstairs only to bump into a dark haired girl coming down the stairs. Amelia Rivas nee Potter, wife of Ivan Rivas, stared down at the young heir her worried face breaking out into a broad smile.

"Well now aren't you a ray of sunshine today." Amelia smiled as she studied Sirius' scowling face.

"Hello Aunt Amelia I didn't know you were here today." Sirius replied as he smiled back at her.

Amelia may be his mothers Aunt but he found adding a "great" in front of it really didn't make much of a difference. Sirius had grown found of his Great Aunt Dorea's sister in law but had never met Amelia's brother Charlus who he heard had a son Sirius' own age. Although his family had made him aware that the Potter's were troubled ground to walk on and were classed as blood traitors, Dorea Black's marriage into the Potters wasn't as frowned upon as others had been as the Potter's were still a respected pure-blood family which had kept them in the Black family's good books. Amelia had married into the Rivas family and became good friends with Ezra through Callcus' brother Ivan who had became very close with the Potter family since he and Charlus were friends at school and remained just that.

"I wasn't supposed to be but Ezra needed my advice on something. Tell me this Sirius, do you trust Callcus?" Amelia asked curiously.

"No" Sirius said immediately which caused Amelia to smile brightly.

"Good, don't. Ezra's started to think Callcus remained with her because of the power she gave him because of her heritage. She's already signed everything over to the Blacks through the binding."

"Wouldn't that make Aly my parents ward should anything to Ezra?" Sirius asked curiously.

"Yeah something like that, it would still need to go through the Wizengamot but with your dad's influence on them due to his position I'm sure things would run smoothly."

Amelia seemed to whisper that last part and looked around her fearing she was being heard, shaking her head Amelia took Sirius' hand and led him back out into the garden where snow was beginning to fall again. Casting a warming charm and a shield bubble charm preventing them from being heard Amelia knelt in front of Sirius.

"Listen to me Sirius, be very careful around Callcus. I'm not supposed to be telling you this but I guess you are already aware seeing as your Father keeps trying to stop you from coming up here. He doesn't trust Callcus intentions either anymore especially seeing as evidence is building to suggest Callcus is behind the disappearances and deaths of some wizarding families." Amelia informed.

"Mother seems to be quiet content with that." Sirius added. "But that's probably because those families are blood traitors."

"Your mother, well your family really, are all about purity. They may think this Voldemort guy is doing the right thing but it's different to what people are thinking Callcus is doing. It's not just muggleborns and half breeds there are pure bloods as well. Did you not hear about Lucius Malfoy's cousin Serena, her body was found yesterday evening?"

"Yeah, I heard that." Sirius frowned. "So they think Callcus is behind it."

"The Ministry have reason to believe the victims are being experimented on, the Auror department doesn't know why yet but we'll find out soon enough."

"Keep forgetting you're an Auror" Sirius mumbled.

"Just be careful okay, Ezra really doesn't want her only daughter, her only heir being left in the hands of her father. Ezra has put your family in charge of Alyssa's protection I guess with your parents being her god parents will help boost matters slightly. I just don't want you or Alyssa getting hurt it's been a good while since a binding was successful only other one I can think of was Lucius and Narcissa's binding."

"They're binded? I didn't think Aunt Druella would go through with it she never did like the Malfoy's much."

"Well they did think Narcissa could do better but her and Lucius have become quiet close, they may not be much older than you but…"

"Only by 3 years." Sirius interrupted.

"I know, it's not a big difference but remember Narcissa has a direct claim on your family's line. If she get's an heir and something happens to you and Regulas she can take over. I know the Blacks don't want the Malfoy's taking over their line but I guess Callcus doesn't want your family taking over his line either." Amelia explained.

"I know not to trust Callcus Aunt Amelia, I never really did and to be honest now I never will."

"Good, keep it that way. I'll be back later I need to go see your parents and inform them on some things Ezra told me. You should stay close to her and Alyssa I fear Callcus may do something soon."

Sirius nodded as Amelia took down the charms and led him back inside. Walking towards the front door Amelia knelt down and placed a kiss on top of Sirius head before grabbing her travelling cloak of the house elf and walked out the open door. Turning on his heel Sirius sprinted for the stairs as the urgency of Amelia's warning played over in his mind. Something within him was warning him that Amelia was right and given how close he had grown to Alyssa he didn't think he would cope very well if something happened to her or her mother. However he didn't seem to get far as he managed to collide with his friends form as she returned from her mother's chambers.

"Thank Merlin you're okay." Sirius said happily as he helped her up from the floor.

"What are you going on about?" Alyssa asked staring at Sirius strangely.

"Amelia seems to think your dad's going to do something and said I should stay close to you. I don't know why but I thought something had happened."

"I knew you were just a teddy bear." Alyssa smiled. "Come on I'm hungry."

Sirius had forgotten all about his hunger and followed Alyssa down to the kitchen were Daisy the head house elf greeted them happily with Milk and cookies sitting on the table. Sirius had grown to like Daisy over the years, he preferred her over his own house elf Kreacher who seemed to ignore everything he said. Over the time he had spent here he noticed that Daisy was quite protective of her young mistress but Sirius figured that was because she had been Ezra's own elf before she married Callcus. Picking up what turned out to be his fourth cookie Sirius noticed how everything in the kitchen seemed to stop, turning to Alyssa he found her staring at the kitchen door which Ezra soon walked through.

This had been the first time Sirius had seen her today and only now noticed how frail she now was. Her robes seem to drape over her thin frame and her once shinning eyes seemed dead and life less. Ezra wore an expression of panic before her gaze settled on the youngsters and she walked over to them as she ordered everyone else out of the kitchen.

"Sirius take Alyssa and go home. Quickly now, take the floo and head back to Grimmauld." Ezra urged.

Before Sirius or Alyssa could ask what the problem was the door opened behind them which caused Ezra to jump and whip out her wand only to find Amelia standing in the doorway who had immediately put up her hands. Walking forward slowly she watched Ezra lower her wand slowly before holding up a piece of parchment.

"I forgot the letter you wanted me to give to Orion." Amelia informed slowly.

Ezra's posture relaxed slowly as she turned back to Sirius and Alyssa it was at this moment that Sirius saw how terrified Ezra was. Her hands shook as she took the letter of Amelia and walked towards her daughter and god son and slowly knelt down in front of them.

"I need you to go to Grimmauld right now, okay. Don't ask question just go, Give your Father this letter and tell him I sent you and that you are to stay there until further notice."

Ezra made to carry on but her head snapped to the door behind Amelia and she stood up quickly, wincing at the pain in her back. She took Alyssa's and Sirius hand and led them to a cupboard under the stairs where she handed Alyssa a piece of parchment.

"Mom" Alyssa said quietly as she reached out for her mother.

"I love you darling, just stay here." Ezra said as she hugged her daughter before turning to Sirius. "Stay here; do not leave no matter what you hear."

Ezra closed the door as Sirius nodded and put his hand on Alyssa's shoulder to comfort her, even though they were unsure as to what was going on they knew by Ezra's tone and expression that something was wrong. Sirius sensed it as well, he had felt a shift in the air since his run in with Callcus but he was praying it wasn't going to play out the way he thought it would. Shouting had dragged Sirius out of his thoughts and his tight grip on Alyssa tightened as she went to open the door. In the distance Ezra could be heard yelling at Callcus who was shouting back at her but as soon as it had started it had stopped and before Sirius could do anything Alyssa bolted out of the cupboard and back towards the kitchen.

"Mom what's going on?" Alyssa asked as she opened the kitchen door only to have it shut in her face.

Just as she opened it back up again Sirius grabbed her hand and tried to pull her back but through the crack of the door both of them saw Callcus come up behind the form of Amelia and raised his wand in a slashing movement. Sirius slammed his hand over Alyssa's mouth as Amelia's head fell from her shoulders and her body fall to the ground. Callcus' grinning form walked towards Ezra who was standing in front of the table with her wand raised her mouth moving in silence. Just as Callcus raised his wand Ezra slashed hers downwards and a ward wrapped itself around her but her husbands curse seemed to crush through her protection and she fell backwards. As quick as cat Ezra raised her hand instead of her wand and a fireball shot out from her palm towards her husband who managed to dodge it easily. Just as Ezra had sent her spell she stumbled slightly her breath coming out in sharp gasps as she fought to keep her strength intact but Callcus used this to his advantage.

"Crucio" Callcus sneered and he laughed as Ezra gripped onto the table, willing her self not to scream.

Sirius had to fight to keep Alyssa from screaming yet neither one of them could move and watched helplessly as Callcus walked towards his weakened wife. Ezra looked up as her deranged husband walked towards her but out of the corner of her eye she caught her daughter's wide ones and Ezra mouthed two words to her just as Callcus shoved her onto the table. The apology Ezra had mouthed became forgotten as Ezra tried to crawl away from her husband but before either one of them could blink Callus' wand turned into a sword that was brought down with a ruthless force Ezra had not prepared for. The sorceress's mouth opened in a gasp as her back fell onto the table her hands feebly attempting to push her husband away. But her strength gave out and her arms fell just as her head hit the table and turned to the side. Ezra's last breath left her lips as her eyes latched onto her daughters and Alyssa watched as the life left her mother.

"MOMMY" Alyssa yelled as she broke out of Sirius' grip.

Sirius cursed as he saw Callcus turn his gaze to his daughter and aimed his wand towards her and just as the curse left his lips and green light surged towards her Sirius dove and pulled Alyssa down to the ground just as the curse destroyed the door behind them. Thinking quickly Sirius pulled Alyssa to her feet and sprinted out the ruined door way ducking quickly as another spell soared over their heads. Around them the house crumbled and shook as Ezra's wards fell and Sirius couldn't help but thank his lucky stars that this put Callcus of his game and helped give the two of them a better chance to escape. Knowing he didn't have time to use the floo Sirius pulled Alyssa towards the front door and bolted up the path just as the roof caved in. Sirius never looked back until he found himself in the middle of the forest surrounding the now destroyed manor. Behind him Alyssa stumbled on a branch and she fell to the ground her tears now falling rapidly as reality of what she had just witnessed kicked in. Sirius couldn't help but kneel down and wrapped his arms around her shaking frame as he watched smoke begin to rise in the distance and in a matter of seconds black smoke rose into the sky and took the form of a skull with a snake protruding from its mouth.


	3. Sanctuary

A slightly shorter chapter this time but this was pretty much just a filler and a quick introduction to another one of my OC's that is going to be playing a big part not just in Sirius' life but with his family as well. If you spot any typos of mis-spellings please let me know. The next chapter will probably be an extra long one but we'll see how it goes.

**The Sorceress and the Grim**

**Chapter three**

**Sanctuary**

Sirius wasn't sure how much time had passed all he knew was that the sun had set and the moon was high in the night sky. Alyssa had long cried herself to sleep as he cradled her and now he watched her sleep in the small space under the tree. He was tempted to join her but the simplest noises had woken him which led to him now sitting on a tree bark watching his surroundings carefully in the minimal light. Sirius wasn't sure if Auror's were searching for them as he knew his family wasn't that well liked within the law enforcement department all he knew was that the two of them were in the middle the forest, four days before Christmas, miles away from Sirius' home in Central London with snow beginning to fall again.

They couldn't stay here, Sirius knew that but he didn't know the area well and had no idea which way to go. So now here he sat searching the night sky for the North Star thanking anyone who was listening he had paid attention to his mother as she taught him about the stars. After locating it Sirius knelt down and carefully picked Alyssa up some how managing to get her on his back as he began the long walk north, praying he ran into someone who could help them.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile back at the ruins of the Rivas manor Head Auror Charlus Potter was searching through the wreckage of the house only to find himself stumble over a fallen beam and come face to face with the dismembered head of his sister. Shock overtook the Auror quickly and he yelled for his team members to join him before ordering them to search what was left of the kitchen.<p>

"Sir, there are no more bodies sir." Auror Peter Hyde informed.

"OVER HERE" Turning to the sound of the voice Charlus looked to find Ivan Rivas leaning over the dead body of Ezra, his expression turned to stone as he looked up at the head Auror and shook his head.

"She's dead; there is spell residue still on her body. That's both my sister in law and my wife Charlus." Ivan growled.

"And I bet I have a good idea who's behind it too." Charlus replied as calmly as he could.

"Sir, you can't be serious." Peter exclaimed.

"Of course I am Hyde; we all knew it was a matter of time before Callcus struck her down."

"But there's no proof of that" Ivan added.

"How can you defend him, he's a murderer Ivan. Your own brother is marked and you've seen the proof. The gardener saw Callcus cast the dark mark with his own eyes; hell the house elf over there watched the whole thing from the damn cupboard under the sink." Charlus said, his voice rising with every word.

Ivan didn't reply instead he sat down beside the body of his wife and closed his eyes as he finally accepted his elder brother had fallen to the wrong side. Ivan only hoped that whoever found Callcus first would spare him long enough for Ivan to find out why his brother had done what he did. Running his hands over his face his ears picked up on the conversation another Auror was having with Daisy the house elf.

"Wait, did she just say Alyssa and Sirius made it out." Ivan asked, jumping to his feet.

"Yeah but Merlin only knows which way they ran. Fuck Orion Black is going to have our heads if we don't find his son." The Auror replied

"Screw Orion its bloody Walburga I'm fucking scared of. Hell Alyssa is the Blacks only god daughter for Merlin's sake. Fuck the whole family will murder us all if those two turn up dead." Ivan responded as he ran to search the area.

"But who's going to tell the Blacks." Peter asked curiously only to have everyone stare at him fearfully at the thought of it being one of them.

* * *

><p>"Where are we going?" Sirius nearly jumped out of his skin as Alyssa spoke quietly causing him to stumble and fall to the ground.<p>

"Merlin Aly, don't do that. At least warn a guy." Sirius replied as he helped her back up. "And I don't know I'm just heading north."

"Are you thinking of heading to London, that's miles away Sirius we'll never make it." Alyssa cried.

"Oh come on don't cry please have some faith in me, I'll get us back one way or another. Now come on hop on my back I doubt that ankle of yours is healed yet."

Nodding Alyssa climbed slowly on to her friends back as they began the journey up north again, in the distance they could see the sun starting to raise again bringing warmth to the air. Adjusting her weight slightly Alyssa laid her head down on Sirius' shoulder as he continued walking. After what seemed like hours they finally made it onto the other side of the forest and in front of them a small cottage stood on a hill. Joy was short lived as behind them voices sounded and out of panic Sirius ran towards the house fearing for the worst. As they arrived Sirius noticed the front door was open which caused him to stop and look around him, trying to find somewhere else to hide.

_That door being open is too good to be true _Sirius thought to himself as his eyes latched onto the shed beside the house. Classing that as the safer option Sirius made towards it only for him to collide into someone else and all three of them fell to the ground. Cursing to himself he quickly picked himself up of the floor and dragged Alyssa to her feet only to find another woman laying beside her.

"Bloody hell, do you ever look where you're going Marcus I swear I told you to stay…"The woman stopped her rant as her eyes locked on to the young boys and her expression softened as she took in the look of panic on his face.

"Sorry I thought you were someone else." The woman explained "Are you okay sweetie?"

Before Sirius could say anything the sound of shouting behind them became louder and sensing their fear she took him by the hand and pulled Sirius towards the house. Try as he might he couldn't get her to let go but as he watched the woman pull them inside and lock the door his panic settled slightly as he realized she was trying to help them.

"You'll be safe here; I won't let them get you. Quickly, hide in the bedroom while I see them off."

Nodding Sirius followed her and watched carefully as she shut the door, looking around the room Sirius laid Alyssa down on the bed as she struggled to catch her breath. Rubbing her back Sirius listened intently to the voices downstairs and he found he didn't recognize a single one.

"Sirius, where are we?" Alyssa asked.

"I honestly have no idea but I think we can trust this woman."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I can't, I just know."

"But what if she's a muggle; she won't know how to contact your parents."

"I won't need her to, don't worry I'll think of something just count yourself lucky we don't have to walk all the way to London." Sirius assured.

"You were going to walk all the way to London" A voice sounded behind them.

"I swear if one more person scares the life out of me I'm going to go nuts." Sirius yelled.

"Sorry sweetie I didn't mean to startle you, I guess I could have knocked. Those people where looking for you weren't they?" The woman enquired.

"My parents told me not to talk to strangers." Sirius scowled.

"A wise thing too, I could be anyone yet I'm also the one who told those people I hadn't seen two kids. Yet here are two kids right in front of me scared out of their minds fearing I'm the one who is going to hurt you."

"Touché."

"What is your name?" The woman asked.

"It's Sirius." He replied slowly. "This is Alyssa…My sister."

"Well then Sirius and Alyssa, welcome to my home my name is Emily."


	4. Emily

Oh look another chapter from me, again this is another filler giving you a bit more background on Emily. Things will start to change for her especially when she actually meets the parents. Dun dun dun. Again any typos or spelling mistakes could you please let me know so I can fix them.

**The Sorceress and the Grim**

**Chapter four**

**Emily**

She honestly couldn't believe her luck, really she couldn't. Not only did she love kids but two now slept in her bed completely exhausted from their journey. Emily had been worried at the start when they both started to get a fever especially when the boy, Sirius, passed out. She found it sweet the way he stayed by his sisters side but even she saw that he was lying about Alyssa's true identity. To be honest Emily found she didn't care as after the death of her own son, who died suddenly in his cot, she knew love when she saw it. True she didn't think it was the same love two soul mates or partners shared but she definitely saw a friendship type of love. However things soon turned difficult when Emily tried to get Sirius to tell her how to contact his parents only for him to tell her they didn't have a phone, nor could they be sent a letter and also how he had strictly forbade her from contacting the, oh what was it he said oh yes….The muggle police.

"What in the heck is a muggle?" Emily had said for the fifth time as she drank her coffee.

It was currently 7:30 in the evening and the two children were still sleeping and thankfully after checking on them not but an hour ago she found their fevers had nearly gone. But right now her main worry was how to get them home or more precisely, to London. Emily didn't drive let alone have an actual driver's license only a provisional and the nearest bus stop or train station was in the complete opposite direction. Yet she did have a phone and thankfully after some careful manipulation she managed to get her ex-husband Marcus to lend her his car.

"Yes we can work things out but only if you do me a teeny tiny favour" Emily had said to him on the phone.

"Emmy, darling I will do anything for you if it means you'll forgive me for sleeping with your sister." Marcus had replied.

"I need to borrow your car, it's just to practise. I have my test next week and I plan to pass it first time just as long as I can get the practise in."

"Of course I'll bring it up straight away; I'll get Jonny to take me back home unless you want me to stay"

Emily had hung up at that part if she had continued talking to him she was pretty sure she would have vomited. _As if I'll actually forgive you for sleeping with my married sister._ So now after Marcus had left about half an hour ago she sipped away at her third coffee waiting for the oven to finish cooking the chicken. Above her a floor board creaked and Emily couldn't help but laugh at the obvious sound of someone trying very carefully to cross the old squeaky floor. Emily waited until the person showed themselves before speaking knowing full well if it was Sirius he probably would go a bit loopy.

"Umm…Sorry for intruding but I was wondering if I could have a glass of water." Sirius asked quietly from the doorway.

"Of course you can, I've made some dinner if you're hungry." Emily replied.

"I'm actually starving, Aly will be as well but I don't think she'll eat anything." Sirius frowned.

"Are you actually going to tell me what happened?"

"No"

Just like that, no. Emily learned quiet quickly that Sirius was a very stubborn boy, she actually felt sorry for the boy's parents and wondered how they handled him. As for Alyssa, she hadn't said a word since she arrived here. She had sat on that bed and stared out the window only nodding when needed too and clinging to Sirius' arm, Emily was amazed the girl actually managed to sleep. All Sirius had said was that Alyssa was ill he hadn't said what was wrong just that she was ill but Emily couldn't find what was wrong with her. Other than a minor fever she was in perfect health yet it was when Alyssa actually looked at Emily after she asked the girl if she wanted anything that she saw what was really wrong. When the young brunette had looked at her Emily saw very clearly the pain behind her green eyes a pain Emily experienced after the death of her parents. Oh she knew that pain, it wasn't something you could just cover with pain killers or simply ignore. No Emily had dealt with hers the same way she felt Alyssa would, in silence. After Emily's parents died in a car accident when she was nine she had stayed with her aunt Marie, thankfully Emily's sister Helen had been staying at her friends but that had been the whole reason her parents were driving to go pick her up. Helen had been her rock but after the whole mishap between her and Marcus Emily stopped speaking to her. The child Helen was expecting had turned out to be his and that made her hate the two of them even more.

"Alyssa." Sirius exclaimed suddenly as he stood up from the table.

She hadn't meant to but Emily dropped the cup she was holding as she stared at the girl in the door way. Her brown hair clung to her young face as her empty green eyes stared back at her. _Numb _Emily thought, _the poor girls numb to the core. _Ignoring the broken cup Emily went forward and wrapped her arms around the young girl and didn't expect Alyssa to wrap her tiny arms around Emily's body. _I guess all she wanted was a hug._

"So, about this dinner." Sirius interrupted, knowing full well the atmosphere needed a change.

"Yes, I hope you like Chicken. I've just made a roast dinner it's pretty much the obvious choice this season don't you think, unless you would rather turkey." Emily asked as she stood up and went back to the oven.

"Chicken is fine, Aly here is addicted to chicken and sage and onion stuffing aren't you poppet" Sirius smiled trying his best to make Alyssa feel comfortable as she sat awkwardly at the table which earned him a nod in the process.

"Well it's a good thing the stuffing's home made then isn't it" Emily smiled.

Dinner came and went in silence and now they were on the topic of how she was going to get the three of them to London. Emily had long decided she was planning on staying in London as her Aunt Marie had moved up there and had offered to let her stay. Leaving the cottage she felt was a better idea and Emily knew that it was time for her to re-join civilization.

"Explain to me why you're staying in London." Sirius asked again.

"There is nothing for me here, nothing but bad memories. I need a fresh start do you think your parents could get me a job." Emily asked.

"Not on your life." Sirius laughed a reaction she had not been expecting at all.

"Excuse me but I don't see what is so funny." Emily huffed.

"Sorry, sorry it's just my family isn't what you would call…Normal"

"Right, well then I'll just leave it at that then. Now go on back to bed with you we leave first thing in the morning that is if you want to be home for Christmas."

"Can we not leave now?"

Both Emily and Sirius had jumped slightly at the sound of Alyssa's quiet voice, her hands folded gently on her lap her plate barely touched except from the stuffing. Emily watched as the girl kept her eyes on the floor as she waited for an answer but Emily couldn't help but glance at Sirius who was watching the girl with a sad but curious expression.

"Aly, Emily needs time to pack." Sirius said gently.

"No, no it's fine to be honest it won't actually take me long just a few hours I guess. It's only…Oh well its 8:15, hmm it would be quite late before we left but I suppose you two are eager to get home." Emily added softly.

"It can wait Emily honestly." Sirius had said.

"No, I think it actually would be best if we left as soon as possible. Do you think you two could clear the table for me while I go pack some things?"

There were very few things that surprised Emily Brown but the look of horror on the boys face when she mentioned cleaning had been quite shocking. Never had she seen someone look so disgusted at the thought of having to clean but given the look of their clothes and their table manners Emily had figured that they came from a high class family who probably had someone else to do all the dirty work.

"Forget I said anything" Emily said quickly.

"No it's okay, I don't mind." Alyssa had added quietly. "I like the way the bubbles feel on my hands when washing the dishes."

Sirius couldn't help but stare at her with one eye brow raised as if the thought of her washing dishes was preposterous. Yet after catching the look on Emily's face Sirius stood up and slowly began clearing the table making sure his sleeves didn't touch any of the plates. Emily found she had began liking Alyssa more than Sirius given how well mannered she was, the boy however was a bit too proud for her liking but I guess she couldn't help but blame the way he was raised.

A few hours passed and Emily, Alyssa and Sirius soon found themselves leaving the cottage behined and beginning their journey back to London where Sirius hoped he'd be able to direct Emily to Grimmauld place without her having to hang around. He was pretty sure his parents would obliterate her on the spot if she was to see his real identity. Mind you he was positive his Mother would have him scrubbing for weeks to rid himself of the "muggle stench" as she liked to call it. Sirius scowled at that thought and looked back at Alyssa as she lay asleep on the back seat; reaching backwards he squeezed her hand reassuringly as her brows furrowed. From the back seat window Sirius watched as they pulled off the countryside road and onto the main road leading towards the motorway, he smiled gently as they left the horrors of the Rivas manor behind.


	5. End of the line

**The Sorceress and the Grim**

**Chapter five**

**End of the line**

The journey had been long yet here they sat just outside Langley on the M4 on a cold Christmas Eve morning eating breakfast at road chef. Sirius had been worried at first that they would receive some unwanted company but things settled quickly as Sirius tucked into his first cheeseburger. Emily had nearly fallen out of her chair laughing at the look of awe and wonder on the boys face and wasn't the least bit surprised when he took his friends before even asking her. Then again Alyssa had claimed she hadn't been hungry and sat staring out the window watching the traffic come and go.

"Well it shouldn't be too long now if the traffic is steady enough we should reach central London by nightfall. Just as long as we don't get caught in the evening traffic jams then you'll definitely be home for Christmas." Emily smiled cheerfully.

"Tha's goo." Sirius replied with a mouth full of food before remembering his manners "Sorry"

"I maybe a simple peasant to you Sirius but even I have some manners when it comes to speaking with my mouth full." Emily said sternly.

"What, so you think I'm some spoilt little rich kid." Sirius grumbled.

"It's obvious you are, your etiquette, your table manners and the way you hold yourself and speak all give you away." Emily said curtly.

Sirius kept quiet at that only to turn and watch as he saw Alyssa stiffen before she dove under the table with a small squeak. Turning to find what it was that had spooked his friend Sirius soon found the reason as he watched the figure of Jackson Blakely, Callcus' closest friend talking to his companions. Emily soon followed his gaze and grimaced as Jackson caught her eye before noticing the young Black heir sitting beside her. His sneer soon turned to a pleased smile as he pointed for his companions to cover the exits, sighing Sirius turned to Emily.

"You have to get us out of here, they can't get us if they do they'll kill us all." He said as he dragged Alyssa out from under the table.

"Why would they want to, surely they'll be able to help you?" Emily asked

"Because that guy's best friend killed my Aunt and Aly's mother." Sirius said before thinking causing him to cringe.

Catching on quickly Emily grabbed Sirius hand as he held on to Alyssa and dragged them back into the hall. Soon she found they had to duck quickly behind a wall just as Jackson's companions ran past them, looking around her she stared at the trolley of used dishes before a grin broke out on her face. Careful to make sure she wasn't seen Emily pushed the trolley in the direction of their soon to be attackers before grabbing the two kids and sprinting for her car. Her hope was short lived as she felt something catch her on the back, winding her and causing her to fall to the floor. Groaning Emily rolled over and looked up into the eyes of Jackson's who sneered cruelly down at her.

"So you're the filthy muggle that took what's mine." He said coldly.

"I highly doubt those two kids are yours, they seem to be under the impression you want to kill them." Emily replied bravely as she stood in front of the two young heirs.

"You wouldn't want to protect them if you knew what they were what we are." A man laughed in the background.

"Shut it Carl." Jackson barked. "Now lady hand them over and I promise we won't hurt you, much."

His companions laughed as a flicker of fear fell over Emily's features from Jackson's words but a distraction soon caught their attention as the rest stops security began making their way over to them. But before Emily could begin thanking her luck stars Jackson pulled out what looked like a stick and uttered the strangest words she had ever heard. Emily could hardly believe her eyes as she watched a jet of green light strike the security guard down dead, his eyes staring blankly to the side.

"What…What was that?" Emily asked slowly causing Jackson to laugh.

"Never seen magic before muggle." Jackson's laughter was short lived as a rock collided with the side of his head and he turned to stare into the cold eyes of Sirius Black.

"Leave Blakely and I'll make sure not to tell my father. Sirius warned. "Or would you rather I told my grand farther Arcturus instead seeing as he is your boss."

"Boy you won't be alive to even try." Jackson growled.

Before Jackson even began to move forward Sirius grinned and pointed up causing Jackson to look up and see a group of rocks floating above his head. Before he could dodge them Sirius tilted his head to the side and the rocks fell down on Jackson's head just as Sirius staggered his way over to Emily who had been kneeling in front of Alyssa.

"What in the hell was that?" Emily cried.

"No time to explain we've got to go, now." Sirius yelled as he dragged Alyssa towards the car.

Adrenaline kicked in and Emily ran towards the car as Jackson's followers turned onto the other security guards that had joined the commotion. Rummaging for her keys Emily unlocked the car and shoved the children in before bolting for her side only having to yell and duck as a spell flew over her head.

"Get in Emily." Sirius cried.

She didn't need to be told twice; Emily quickly started the engine and sped towards the exit before closing her door making sure not to look back. An hour and a half passed by before Emily pulled over to the side before turning to stare at Sirius incredulously. The young heir merely glared back at her for stopping the car and wrapped his arms around Alyssa protectively.

"What are you?" Emily asked carefully causing Sirius to ponder her question carefully before settling for the truth.

"I'm a wizard and Alyssa here is a witch, those people back there are what my kind has began calling death eaters. Normally they wouldn't dream of going after my family but due to how close my family is with Alyssa's that doesn't sit well with some of them."

"But are you not a bit young to be doing…Magic."

"Yes, but my parents well my family actually as I said aren't normal. They are one of the most powerful wizarding families in our world and we're known for being able to do magic without the use of a wand. I'm not really meant to be able to do any yet as I'm still young, hell my mother will probably have my head when she finds out but we are able to tap into it, some have to be shown how too others find it easier to just tap into it."

"Others as in…"

"Muggleborns, half bloods. They're the weaker side of our kind, or so my family claims but I have yet to see proof of that. I'm what you call a pureblood, so is Aly, we come from a family that has both magical parents whereas muggleborns don't have any magical parents and half bloods only have a single parent." Sirius explained carefully.

"So when you laughed at the idea of your parents getting me a job," Emily said slowly.

"They would rather kill you on the spot, my family detest anything that is not magical or weakens it in anyway." Sirius said a dark look forming over his face as he replied to her. "Look I understand if you don't want to help us but even though my family may hate muggles they will be a little grateful you saved my life."

"Well…It's not everyday I get to meet a witch or wizard or anything super natural for that matter." Emily whispered.

"…You are taking this very well." Sirius said curiously.

"Yes, well, I have always been interested in magic. All that supernatural stuff about ghosts and things that go bump in the night really fascinate me. I've always been so interested in the Arthurian legend about Merlin, Morgana, Morgaine and all the rest of it" Emily explained smiling.

"Morgaine is my grandmother, I couldn't begin to tell you how many great's to add in front of that but she's from my mother's side." Looking carefully at Alyssa's quiet form Sirius continued. "Alyssa here is Merlin's last heir."

"You have got to be kidding; Morgaine le Fay is still alive after all these years. She must hundreds of years old." Emily exclaimed, her eyes widening in shock yet still glistening with interest.

"Believe me it isn't as hocus pocus as you muggles think it is. There are a lot more dangerous and darker things at work here, some of our kind like the ones back there will kill for power or for the fun of it." Sirius added, dismissing Emily's last comment.

"She's very quiet." Emily said indicating to Alyssa after a moment of silence.

"Shock, a lot's happened." Sirius explained. "She doesn't really handle situations like this very well, she shuts herself down."

Emily didn't reply she just watched Alyssa carefully as her eyes stared blankly ahead before turning to start the car back up and begin their journey back to London, which turned out to be a lot smoother than what the car's occupants had prepared themselves for. Sirius had took to watching every little corner for any unwanted activity but as the view of London's outskirts began appearing in the distance he relaxed against his seat and smiled happily. The rest of the journey went by smoothly and by 9:30pm with directions from Sirius Emily had parked beside a small park. Sirius had explained to Emily that his home lay on the other side and that for her own protection she was to not come with them, much to Emily's displeasure.

"I'm not kidding Emily, if my parents saw me with you I don't know who will get the worst end of the deal, me or you." Sirius explained as he shut the car door before pointing down the street. "Look Kings cross is twenty minutes that way you should be able to get were ever it is you need to from there."

"I understand but I just want to make sure you two get there safely, I'll make sure to stay out of site once I have a clear view of you getting safely inside." Emily added.

"It's not as simple as that; I can't let you see where my home is. It's not that I don't want it it's just that I can't for security purposes."

"Fine, fine." Emily gave in. "I just don't want you two to get hurt I've became quite fond of you."

"Unfortunately you won't see us again either as I've come to be…"Sirius paused a second as he thought of his choice of words before smiling. "Tolerable of you as well."

"Well aren't you a comic." Emily said sarcastically earning her a small bow from the boy. "I guess this is goodbye then"

"Yeah, I guess it is. Thank you for everything Emily, Aly and I really appreciate it." Sirius thanked.

"Oh don't worry about it I'm glad I could help now go quickly before I change my mind."

Laughing softly Sirius took Alyssa's hand and led her through the darkened park that led to the other side. After about five minutes Sirius couldn't help but walk a little faster as the feeling of someone following them settled in. Soon the entrance became visible and in front of them a row of Georgian houses stood proudly in the moonlight. Behind him an owl hooted and Sirius bolted through the gate before standing to look up at the row of houses waiting for number 12 to appear. Minutes ticked by and to his right Sirius spotted a black car turning the corner and heading towards them, looking back up at the house Sirius kept repeating his house number over and over in his head praying the house would hurry and show itself. But soon a voice pulled him out of his thoughts and Sirius turned to see Emily standing behind him with a look of worry on her face as she watched the car pull to a stop near them. Taking his hand Emily tried to pull the two of them back into the park only to have someone grab her arm and hold something pointy against the back of her neck. Gulping Emily turned slowly to face her captor and caught Sirius look of fear in the process before she found herself staring into another set of cold, older grey eyes.

"Take your filthy hands of my son." Walburga Black snarled.


	6. The muggle and the witch

Was hoping to get this out for Christmas day but things got a bit hectic after having my house broken into….Again. I'm pretty sure I'm getting targeted anyway here's the next chapter enjoy and thank you for the latest reviews.

**The Sorceress and the grim**

**Chapter six**

**The Muggle and the Witch.**

Walburga Black, the very image of a proper Black upbringing. Her raven locks were pulled up in a neat bun and her piercing grey eyes were full of such loathing that matched her sullen tone of voice perfectly. She wore robes of the finest pure cotton merged with Slytherin green silk that perfected her very image as she held her mahogany and dragon heart string wand of 7 inches against the throat of the brown haired muggle that still had a grip on her son. With her voice low she glanced quickly at her son who was staring between her and the muggle with a mixture of fear and horror.

"I will not tell you again." Walburga warned slowly.

"I mean them no harm; I only meant to see them safe." Emily said slowly as she let go of Sirius who in turn stayed by Emily's side.

"Sirius, Alyssa come here." Walburga said sternly only for Sirius to move Alyssa behind him, fold his arms and stay by Emily's side.

"Mother, Emily saved mine and Alyssa's life. Without her we would have been killed she kept us safe and drove all the way from Kent to get us here in time for Christmas. We got attacked by Jackson and his clan at a rest stop and Emily risked her life to get me and Alyssa to safety." Sirius informed smugly.

"Such rubbish, now come here." Walburga snapped.

"It's true." A tiny voice behind Sirius said.

It was at this that Walburga faltered slightly as she took in the state of her god daughter only then did she lower her wand slightly and she studied the two children carefully. Alyssa, with matted brown hair clinging to her face and her eyes puffy and red from crying was staring at her god mother with empty dead eyes yet still managing a small smile as she defended Emily. Sirius on the other hand was a different matter, dirt could still be evidently seen in his clothes and his hair stood up at all ends and although there was defiance in his eyes Walburga could tell that her son had barely slept yet still stood in a way that made Walburga proud.

"Walburga, darling as much as it pains me to say this. I believe it's the truth we got reports of an attack but were not sure where, all we know is that a lot of muggles were injured and killed. Witnesses saw a women leave with two kids who they say protected them with her life. I believe this is the same women, are you aware of what we are then?" Orion Black said as he directed his question to Emily.

"Yes, your son, the brilliant boy he is, told me of everything. I do not fear it in anyway if anything I'm fascinated by it." Emily replied.

"She's into the Arthurian legend Father." Sirius added earning him a sharp look from his mother as she turned a curious gaze to the muggle.

"You believe in the Arthurian legend about Morganna and Morgaine." Walburga asked trying to mask the hint of surprise in her voice.

"Oh yes mam, it's positively splendid. I've always been fascinated by the le fay sisters and Sirius informed me you are from that exact heritage. Which I might add is simply amazing." Emily positively beamed with joy as she replied to one of the most feared witches in the wizarding world.

Walburga said nothing in return instead she pocketed her wand and shook her head before turning to the row of houses. Closing her eyes Walburga clapped her hands twice before the ground started to shake and the house numbers 11 and 13 seemed to move apart to make room for number 12. An aged dark mahogany door stood proudly behind a small iron gate and at this Walburga turned round to face the others.

"Know this muggle-filth you will be the first I let into my house and will most definitely be the last, the only reason I am doing this is for law and security reasons in regards to my son and god-daughter. You will be giving me a full account of every single thing that is happened since the very day you were born right up to this very second in time." Walburga informed.

"Yes mam." Emily replied.

"Do not even think about lying as I will be feeding you a truth serum to make sure you are not and so help you if you do as I will obliterate you on the spot, once I am done you will leave this house with your mind wiped of it's location and you will never come near any single member of my family again on pain of death I will make you swear."

"Of course mam."

"Well…At least you have manners." Walburga said smoothing down her robes. "Sirius get in the house at once and get cleaned up you look appalling."

In one fluid movement she had picked up her god-daughter steered her son towards the house and glared threateningly at Emily before walking into 12 Grimmauld place leaving Emily standing out on the street with Orion Black staring coldly at her. With a slightly prod of his cane he urged Emily up the steps and the through the door causing the house to give a violent shake before slamming the door shut.

"This house is partially alive so if I were you I would stay right here or face being strangled by the curtains." Orion snarled before pushing past her.

Not in a single heart beat had she expected to be standing inside the house of Black let alone be invited in by a family that detested non-magical folk. Yet here she stood, all because she protected the two children the Black family held dear and still she had no idea of how much that meant. Even though the Black's would never admit it when it comes to the protection of the Black heir and any member of the Black family respect is given and if necessary the person could be put under Black protection. If the family deemed it suitable enough, Emily however had no idea of this and if she did she would know that she would not be deemed "suitable enough" regardless of her actions. Black protection is a form of the highest kind were if the person was harmed in anyway or form then the family would have full permission to do whatever is necessary, they could get away with cold blooded murder if it was in the name of protecting someone under Black protection. Hence why many had tried claiming asylum with the Black family back in the older days when life had been harsh and magic restricted. But the family had tightened their laws and granted asylum to those who were worthy of it. Nowadays it was all pure-blooded witches or wizards who wanted to be put back onto the right path.

"Muggle, come here." Walburga called from a room down the hall.

Emily followed towards the voice quickly as she watched Orion Black's gaze with hesitant eyes making sure to not touch anything. Once she reached the door Orion stepped aside with a grunt of annoyance and moved towards the chair Walburga had issued for her, a simple wooden chair which she was sure would be burnt straight afterwards. Emily sat down slowly with her back straight and her hands folded neatly on her lap. Walburga was currently writing something down on a piece of parchment which she soon folded up and tied to an owl's leg before turning to the muggle.

"Kreacher." Walburga called.

With a crack the form of an aged house elf appeared before them carrying a tray with a single cup of tea in a silver cup. Glancing carefully at Walburga, who nodded slightly Emily took the tea and drank it down. Over the rim of the cup she could see Walburga Black's sneer grow wider as the effects of Vertiserum laced tea began to take effect.

"What is your name?" Walburga asked.

"Emily Janice Brown."

"Age"

"23"

"Date of birth"

"12th June."

"Place of birth."

"Dover, Kent."

"Very good, now let us truly begin." Walburga sneered with a slight twinkly in her eye. "Did you kidnap my son and god-daughter?"

"No mam"

"How did they come by you?"

"I was out gardening when I saw them running towards the house, the boy was carrying the girl on his back before they fell. I felt it only kind that I should help those in need for I quickly noticed people following them." Emily said with a slight mono-tone voice.

"And how do you know these people were not actually trying to help the two children?" Walburga requested.

"Because when they arrived at my house they sneered at me the way you do, with distaste and loathing."

"Why did you offer to help them, at the rest stop when the attack happened why did you risk your life for two children you didn't know?"

"Because they needed it, I lost my own son from a cot death and I felt I needed to atone for his death as I felt responsible."

"Why?"

"Because I failed as a mother to my miracle of a son."

At this Walburga's gaze shifted to something slightly softer, her grip on the table she had been clinging to lessened and her sneer softened to a small smile as she watched a childless mother cry silently for a death she could not have changed. For she knew what it was like to lose a child she had nearly lost Sirius from the start and even now with his heart beating weakly she worries that one day she will lose her miracle of a son. Sirius had been still born at 28 weeks and she had feared for the worst until he took his first breath after 12 agonising minutes of clinging to his tiny form. He may not understand why Walburga had Sirius go to the healer every year but one day she will tell him that it is because his heart is weak yet his spirit was oh so strong.

"That will be all, Kreacher show her to the bathroom were she can clean herself up." Walburga said softly.

"Are you all right my love?" Orion asked as he watched the muggle leave.

"No, no I most certainly am not. That…That filth…She…" Walburga huffed in annoyance before she continued "I saw myself in her Orion, just how I felt with Sirius."

"Then what do you want to do."

Walburga pondered her response carefully as she listened to the sound of the taps being turned on as Emily cleaned herself up under the watchful eye of the ever faithful house elf. Walburga had never thought she would see the day she would let a muggle into her house but then again she cherished Sirius with every fibre of her being and anyone who risked their lives to protect him she would overlook. For as long as she had her miracle Walburga Black was happy and over the past couple of days she had feared the worse but as time ticked by and she heard Emily come slowly down the stairs Walburga turned to her husband with her answer.

"Let her go."


	7. Changing an era

So those who have caught up and are up to date probably didn't like how things got portrayed in the last chapter with the Blacks but trust me it plays a part. And yes I am fully aware that what happens at the end probably wouldn't ever happen.

**The Sorceress and the Grim**

**Chapter seven**

**Changing an Era**

Two years had passed since Walburga Black had let Emily walk out the front door and she had stayed true to her word. Sirius of course had not been one bit happy and attempted to locate her in any way he could which namely involved him leaving the house which Orion eventually barricaded shut with a few charms leading to the young heir to huff in silence. The newest addition to the family Regulas had became a quick learner and was now walking and talking away to his hearts content however he did turn into Sirius' shadow and the three year old seemed to cling to his older brother every chance he got. Alyssa and Sirius were soon turning eleven and were already expecting to start Hogwarts in the following year however over time things had gone slowly downhill.

Alyssa had slowly gotten over her mothers death but quick evidence showed that Callcus Rivas was unmistakably still alive and had been arrested, yet the court case came and went. Regardless of what the young Black heir had said under oath the Wizengamot were more interested in Alyssa's side of the story and when she had said that she could not be sure her father had committed those crimes even though she had seen with her own eyes, the last remaining member of her mothers family defended her father.

The Potters had not been happy with the way Callcus walked free because his daughter would not give her side of the story that could put her father behind bars for the rest of his life. Alyssa had kept her eyes on the floor as Charlus Potter yelled at her for defending her murderous scum of a father. Eventually the Potter's cut every single tie to the Rivas family and made the point clear of what they thought of the family's heir, in the Potters eyes, Alyssa Rivas was a traitor. This brought on another death in the form of Ivan Riva's suicide that had rocked all three families and as they returned from his funeral the Black household seemed to take on a darker appeal. Something seemed to be looming over the family and even the portraits of the house seemed to sense that something sinister was going to happen, yet no one seemed to expect what was to follow.

"I still don't understand it, why did she defend him?" Sirius sighed to his father.

"We may never know; Callcus is all she has left. There is no other member of her family left other than him."

"But what about us, we're her family now are we not."

"As long as Callcus still breathes we cannot take on our role as her god-parents and it is clear as day that Callcus will take his daughter back and we will not be able to stop it." Orion informed sadly.

Sirius did not take this news well and turned to kick the desk beside him, a small growl left his throat before he turned and walked out of his fathers study. Yes, he knew one day Alyssa would have to go back to her father but until then he was going to make sure her stay in Grimmauld Place was all she could hope for and he knew just how he was going to do it. Turning on the wizarding wireless network he had brought up from the lounge to his room Sirius made sure a decent track was playing just as Alyssa walked in and jumped on by her closest and only friend.

"Didn't think you'd come up." Sirius mused as he hugged her.

"Yes well, I was bored now let go of me." Alyssa hissed.

"Alright, alright. You're probably wondering why you're here well you wanted to learn how to dance so I'm teaching you." Sirius said proudly.

"You're what, teaching me. Sirius you can't even walk straight."

"I can to, now come here and give me your hand."

Alyssa couldn't help but stare strangely at her friend; she had been quite horrible to him lately by taking all her anger and frustrations out on him which resulted in Sirius falling down the stairs four months ago. She had avoided him since then but the young Black heir was happily enough to over look it and continued to try and make her smile again. So now here she stood with one hand held by Sirius' and the other on his shoulder as he placed his other hand on her waist.

"Now just follow my lead m'lady, okay." He smiled.

Just like that Sirius taught Alyssa how to waltz by following the ever simple 1,2,3 method. Sure there were a few toes bruised and the odd kick in the shin here and there yet after a while they began to move fluidly only for Alyssa to trip over a loose floorboard and bring Sirius down with her as they fell to the floor. Wincing in pain Sirius laughed softly as he shifted to look down at his friend who was currently beneath him. Yet as he looked into her green eyes something changed and his heart began to beat just that little bit faster just as Alyssa smiled up at him with her green eyes shinning. Before he could even think Sirius leaned down and gently placed his lips against hers and just as soon as it happened it stopped and he pulled away again with a swift apology.

"It's okay." Alyssa whispered. "I…I kind of liked it."

"…Really." Sirius murmured " I've seen mom and dad do it load of times and I don't know what possessed me to kiss you but I wanted to."

"I'm glad you did."

Sirius just smiled back at her as he stood and helped Alyssa up and just as he leaned to place another small peck on her lips the sound of a chugging car outside caught their attention and Sirius turned to look down at the street from his window. Below he could make out the image of a pale blue car as evening began to settle in and soon a figure emerged from the car and kicked the tyre as they let of a string of curse words in a voice so familiar.

"It couldn't be…" Sirius wondered.

"It sounded like it." Alyssa added "Fancy a walk"

"My dearest Alyssa I like the way you think."

Grinning wickedly Sirius turned and began his way down the stairs as quietly as he could; he knew his father wouldn't have activated the charms on the door just yet. Sirius had another five or ten minutes before they kicked in and as quietly as they could Alyssa and Sirius careful sneaked out the front door and turned to see the figure walking down the street. Looking back as Grimmauld settled itself back into its hiding place Alyssa smiled as she began following the figure with Sirius close behind her. Over the years the duo had grown closer and Alyssa had slowly become stronger and not as weak as everyone thought she was. Her mother's death had taught her to be strong and living with the Blacks, she needed it. Sirius had took to spending more time with his father rather than his mother and taught his little brother quite a few interesting words.

"Blimey you don't think she lives there do you." Sirius exclaimed suddenly as he pointed to an apartment building that was only down the street from Grimmauld.

"It can't be a coincidence that she's this close." Alyssa replied "It would be really sweet if she was close by, keeping an eye out for us."

"Yeah, but my mother will take a fit when she finds out."

At this both Sirius and Alyssa laughed at how Walburga would react as the Black lady had took to looking more and more like a dragon as the years went by. Silencing themselves the duo quietly followed the women into the apartment building and watched in hiding as she took the elevator up to the fourth floor. Not having much of a clue how the elevator worked Sirius and Alyssa took the stairs up to the fourth floor and breathed a sigh of relief as they saw the woman struggling to open her door. Hissing under her breath the women bent down to pick up her dropped keys and as she stood back up her eyes latched onto the two children standing at the end of the hallway and her bag and keys fell from her hands as she remembered very clearly who they were.

"Hello Emily." Sirius greeted cheerfully as they walked up to her.

Emily Brown, whose dark brown hair was now black stared down at the duo her eyes wide with horror. The few years that had gone by had done some good to the woman as she looked more rested than she had when Sirius had first seen her. Emily was also thinking the same, she could see very clearly that Sirius was growing into a handsome boy and Alyssa now wore a bright smile on her face that made her eyes shine just that little bit brighter.

"What are you two doing here?" Emily asked.

"We wanted to be sure it was you, we haven't seen you in so long. Myself and Alyssa just wanted to make sure you were okay, we've missed you." Sirius replied.

"Yes well your mother will have my head."

"My mother can kiss my arse, she'll do no such thing."

Even Alyssa had stared open mouthed at Sirius' words, over time he had picked up a few nasty words but had the sense not to use them in front of his parents yet when he did it always left Alyssa a bit shocked. This time however Emily wasn't shocked and even smiled at Sirius use of language before bursting out laughing.

"Oh you darling boy, I've missed you to." Emily laughed as she wrapped her arms around him. "And you as well Alyssa, now come on. Come inside for a quick cup of tea then of home with you, it's quite late."

"It is indeed late" A voice sounded as Emily closed her apartment door, in the dark Emily could barely make out who it was that spoke and thought for a second it had been either one of the children yet as the figure spoke again she didn't even need to look at the two as she felt them stiffen beside her.

"Hello dearest daughter." Callcus Rivas sneered as his glowing wand lit up the dark room.

"How did you get in here?" Emily glared.

"Be quiet filthy muggle.

"No, you have the right to answer her." Sirius growled bravely.

"Ah, young Sirius Black haven't you grown. Your bravery is becoming very unlike you wouldn't' your mother be ever so upset if you died suddenly?" Callcus threatened.

Before any bickering could be said Alyssa had turned, stood in front of Sirius and glared hard at her father before raising her hand and snapping her fingers. Within seconds a bucket of ice cold water had fell on top of the old wizards head and Emily, Sirius and Alyssa used this to turn and run. In his head Sirius had already formed a plan as he knew Callcus wouldn't dare do anything near his family home. Callcus feared his parents, he feared his whole family but if only Sirius could get the murdering old coot near the house. He wasn't sure how easy that was going to be but as they burst out the door Sirius spotted an all too familiar car coming towards them and he bolted in front of it causing Alfred the driver to pull to an immediate stop.

"Master Sirius what are you playing at." Alfred snapped as he got out of the car.

"Callcus, behind us, in trouble, help." Sirius said gasping for breath.

Just as soon as his words left his mouth Callcus could be heard behind them and Alfred took out his wand and fired a locking jinx at the door before urging the other three to get to Grimmauld. But the jinx didn't hold long and soon Alfred was pairing of with Callcus who held the upper hand, but Alfred had worked for the Blacks for nearly 30 years and knew how to play dirty. Hoping it would buy the others some time Alfred tapped into some of the black magic the family had taught him and Callcus staggered slightly as a purple and black smog wrapped itself around him and began squeezing the life out of him. Snarling Callcus focused on raising his wand and managed to get it high enough to fire a familiar unforgivable at the old driver. Just as Alfred fell to his knees, dead, Callcus was on his feet running towards the muggle, Alyssa and Sirius who was yelling for his parents. But a second to late did Callcus notice that Orion had came bursting out the door at Sirius's cries for help and his cold hard gaze caught onto Callcus' figure.

Thinking quickly Callcus stopped and studied the scene before him, Orion stood poised in front of his son who held onto Alyssa's hand tightly. Behind them the muggle Emily watched the scene carefully and Callcus smirked as her hesitant gaze switched between himself and Walburga Black who stood in the doorway. A plan quickly formulated in his head and even though he knew the Black's would be expecting it Callcus knew it was worth a shot. He was no match for both of Sirius' parents right now. Firing of two curses, one towards Walburga and the other towards Orion, Callcus apparated and appeared suddenly behind his daughter and tore her from Sirius' grasp and just as the boy turned around Callcus fired of another killing curse. Three things happened at once in the matter of five seconds, Emily had dived and pulled Sirius down to the ground just as the killing curse missed him by inches, both Walburga and Orion fired their own killing curse at Callcus just as he apparated away with his daughter in toe.

Neither one of them were even sure if the curses had hit their target, all they knew was Alyssa was gone and Sirius was un-conscious on the ground.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure you want to be doing this?"<p>

"Three months have passed and there is no sign of either of them."

"How is Sirius holding up?"

"He is still un-conscious; the killing cursed missed him by inches thanks to you. My son is a fighter he should awake soon and when he does he will not be happy." A woman said by the fireplace.

"I mean no disrespect mam, but how do you feel I can help. You have made it evidently clear you hate my kind, you would be going back on everything by going through with this." Said her guest as she stood by the window and stared out at the autumn leaves.

"My dear girl I have made up my mind, you have saved my sons life twice now and for that I owe you something."

"Yes but the position of the family's Personal Representative that isn't the type of a job a muggle could handle in this family."

"You have done wonders with the press so far in your short stay here at Grimmauld, you have dealt with things myself and Orion have neglected and for that I owe you more than you could imagine."

"But I am a muggle."

"Yet you saved my son's life, you have defended this family. My dear child you will be in a position many envy, you will be within the family circle where you will hear and know everything. You have shown that I can trust you, a muggle you maybe yes but in these past months you have acted as a pure blood. You have defended this family when no one else would, you hardly know us yet you have sent quite interesting replies to those who tell you to leave or face being brutally tortured."

"Yes but even I know you wouldn't do that, you're a mother Walburga we share the same passion. Only difference is my son is dead yours isn't, Sirius still breathes."

"Which you played a part in" Walburga smiled "Now do you accept my proposition."

"Yes, I will do what you ask." The other woman replied after a moment's hesitation.

"Excellent" Walburga said as her guest stood up to leave. "Oh and Emily."

"Yes Mam."

"Welcome to the family."


	8. Moving on

**The Sorceress and the Grim**

**Chapter eight**

**Moving On.**

_Where am I?_

_You are safe, you are well._

_Who are you?_

_I am your guide._

_Why, I don't need a guide._

_Oh but you will, troubling times are coming my child and you need to be ready. Prepare yourself young Sirius Black for even though you will lose everything it will all be restored ten fold when you complete your journey._

_What journey, who are you?_

_You will find out soon enough my dear, dear grim. _

Sirius shot awake with a start for the fourth time that week and as he saw that it was 3am on the clock on his wall he noticed that it was the same time every night he had woken up from the same dream. A dream he kept having since he was child lying in a hospital bed on the night he lost…

"Come on Sirius, don't think about it you'll only get yourself rattled up again." He groaned as he ran his hands through his hair.

Pulling the pillow over his head Sirius groaned again before he pulled himself out of bed and crept downstairs towards the kitchen. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the family house elf staring at him as he dusted the portraits and as usual the house elf glared at him before mumbling his usual nonsense.

"You can call me a traitor all you want, me being a Gryffindor doesn't change anything." Sirius groaned nodding to the portrait of his grandfather Arcturus Black.

Six months ago, eleven year old Sirius Orion Black began his journey to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry with high hopes from his family resting on his young shoulders. Even from the first moment he stepped foot on the Hogwarts express he knew thing were going to go downhill. From the proud looks he got from his cousins, 5th year Bellatrix and 7th year Narcissa with her boyfriend Lucius to the pitying look he received from 7th year Andromeda. Even as he met James Henry Potter for the first time Sirius knew that before the night was out something was going to go horribly wrong and it did. Just as soon as the sorting hat touched his head he knew he was doomed even as the sorting hat told him he would become one of the most powerful wizards in history and change the shape of his family. Sirius had laughed when the sorting hat told him he would achieve immense greatness but just as the hat shouted out Gryffindor Sirius stopped laughing and his fear filled eyes caught the shock and horror filled ones of his cousins.

To say his parents had been pleased was an understatement, Sirius had received a letter from his mother the next day after Bellatrix had owled her the night before. He had expected a howler yet with the way she had worded her letter he was glad she didn't. Sirius winced as he remembered how her fury had resonated with each word, _I am so disappointed in you I expected much better, sorting hat or not I will be having a word with Dumbledore; this is a huge disgrace I hope you are fighting to get re-sorted. Just you wait until I see you when you get home; you better have a good explanation _

Sirius had simply replied that they should be glad he wasn't a hufflepuff and the family owl had returned soon after with a single pumpkin pie signalling his mother agreed. After he had got home for Christmas things hadn't been as bad as he expected, a lecture here and there about family loyalty. His mother had stopped sending howlers to the school demanding he be re-sorted and his parents had finally settled on the fact their eldest son was a Gryffindor. Now he currently sat in the kitchen with the dawn light peaking through the closed curtains, home for the half term break. Over the short time he had been at Hogwarts Sirius had became very close to James and by half term break the two were like brothers.

"Sirius, what are you doing up so early?" Orion Black said from the doorway.

"Couldn't sleep, same dream again, hungry." Was all Sirius said.

At the mention of the dream Orion placed a hand on his sons shoulder before ordering Kreacher to make breakfast. The relationship between father and son had grown stronger over time just as Sirius and his mother drifted apart as she focused more on Regulas. Sirius had become more focused on his father's opinions rather than his mothers and once or twice his parents had argued about whatever subject they were on over him. Orion seemed to find his son's position as a Gryffindor as a way for Sirius to teach his house mates about the Black ways, something Sirius never actually did and whenever his father questioned the matter Sirius simply told him "nobody was listening."

"Have you packed all your things?" Orion asked

"Yeah, James is meeting me at the station so you and mom don't have to come with me." Sirius replied.

"For safety Sirius I would prefer to be there."

He had learned not to argue on the matter and simply ate the toast Kreacher laid in front of him, he understood his fathers reasoning but it had been years since anyone had heard anything from Callcus Rivas, years since he had seen…her. Shaking his head Sirius eyes caught the morning papers headlines and grimaced as unwanted memories flooded back to him. His father's eyes hardened even more and Sirius prayed none of them was someone he knew, Orion glanced up as Sirius studied the front of the paper before handing it over to him.

**Three adults and four children found dead as Callcus Rivas is spotted in Rome**

_In the early hours of the morning the bodies of Lavender and Jacob Mercino were found in the ruins of their house, their children Jessica, Ryan and David were found alongside them with their throats slashed. A few hours later the body of Isaac Mathews was found floating in a nearby river whilst the body of a young girl yet to be identified was found hanging from the bridge. _

_The reports come just as wanted murderer Callcus Rivas was spotted in the city centre followed closely by three others. Rivas is wanted for the deaths of his wife Ezra and sister in law Amelia Potter and the kidnapping of his daughter Alyssa Charlotte Rivas who has not been seen since she was taken from Grimmauld Place in London, three years ago. Auror's from the Italian ministry have been working closely with fellow Auror's from both France and England in hopes to catch Rivas before he strikes again. The reasoning behind the sudden deaths of these muggles is unknown but reports are due to follow soon. _

Sirius' heart sunk at the mention of the unidentified body and prayed it wasn't who he thought it was. Even though they had heard no word from her Sirius knew deep down that Alyssa was somewhere, hopefully safe. Yet there had been no trace of her, right now she should be attending a magical school and Sirius had hoped that they would have started Hogwarts together. Behind him Sirius heard the front door close and his father looked up as Emily, the families PR walked into the kitchen.

"I take it you've read the paper." Emily said as she handed her bag and coat to Kreacher.

"Do they think the girl is Alyssa?" Orion asked.

"No it's not, the reports are coming in it is a relative of Mathews. So far reporters are more focused on how the family's is going to respond to the matter. So far I've had about eight people asking for a quote or something."

"You know what to do Emily; you've done a good job so far." Orion smiled.

Even though Orion had not been happy with Emily's position at the start he trusted his wife's judgement and she had been right. Since the attack the Ministry had gone nuts and tried to pin the blame on the Blacks but Emily had gave solid evidence to prove otherwise and had even slapped one of the female Auror's that suggested the Blacks had placed her under the imperius curse. Request after request had came in asking for quotes, interviews even photo's of the family since that night and Emily had handled it magnificently. Walburga had even agreed to let Orion try another PR as Emily took a few days off but in the few days Brian Flynn had worked as the Black family's PR everything had fell apart as Brian slipped up by mentioning who it was that was the family's personal healer leading to the Black family having to change to someone else.

Within the short time Brian had spent with the family he had not only agreed to interviews that never happened, quotes that never came but now photographers followed the family's every move. As soon as Emily arrived back she had already began working on how to fix things and handled it simply by firing Brian, who sighed in relief, and simply told the bothersome reporters exactly where to go. But the one thing Orion was actually pleased with was how Emily could talk to the reporters by giving them exactly what they wanted by not saying anything at all. No one could figure out how she did it and this always left reporters completely baffled and always tried to find a way around it, failing every time.

"Barty Crouch wants to see you in his office tomorrow morning to discuss how they are going to deal with Rivas and find Alyssa, I told him I would talk to you in regards to a time and place." Emily said as she flicked through her note pad. "Walburga is scheduled for afternoon tea with the Minister of Magic to discuss the up-coming spring ball and Sirius is due a check-up at half nine with the dentist."

"Its 8:45 now." Sirius added.

"You better get sorted quickly then shouldn't you." Emily smiled.

"You've done well Emily, send word to Crouch I will see him today after Sirius goes back to school. Talk to Walburga about the spring ball I think she wanted your opinion on something, one can't be to sure with that wife of mine." said Orion.

Later that afternoon Sirius was on the Hogwarts express rubbing at his jaw, the dentist had been in a foul mood this morning complaining about his ungrateful patients and know it all mother in-laws and he poked and prodded at Sirius' teeth. A Filling here and a filling there was scheduled next time he was in and he was soon sent of with a dull ache in his jaw and a lollipop.

"There you are." James Potter said as he walked into the compartment

"Was wondering when you'd find me, been sitting here for ages." Sirius replied taking the lollipop stick out of his mouth and chucking it at his friend.

"Here, you know that Lupin boy" James said.

"What about him?"

"Well, he got tickets to the Quidditch world cup in June any idea how he got them."

"Not a clue but I can get them easy enough if you wanna go."

"So could I Sirius, just wondering how he could afford them with how shaggy he looks." James pondered.

"Probably the same reason why your hair's always a mess." Sirius smirked.

"Oh look a comic." James mock-glared.

"Um, excuse me." A voice sounded from the door way, James and Sirius looked up and saw the very same boy they had been talking about standing there.

"But do you mind if I join you, everywhere else is full." Remus John Lupin asked the two boys.

"Aye sure, why the hell not." Sirius grinned.

"The names James and this idiot here is Sirius." James introduced.

"I'm Remus, nice to meet you." Remus replied as he took out the paper "You don't mind if I finish this do you."

"Not at all." James said before turning to Sirius. "I can't believe that Rivas guy, the whole family is pure scum."

"Not all of them." Sirius mumbled.

"Oh come of it Sirius, Callcus is a murderer, Ezra was a power hungry sorceress the whole family were power hungry fools." James snapped.

"Do you even know the family James because I bet I know them better than you do?" Sirius snapped back.

"That's right," James sneered "You were friendly with the Rivas girl, Alyssa. She's the reason Callcus was never put behind bars you know, none of this would be happening if it wasn't for her."

"You know what Potter; you don't know anything all right. You don't the family and you certainly don't know Alyssa, you have no idea what happened that night." Sirius growled.

"How would you know mate, it's not like you were actually there for Merlin's sake"

"But I was there. I was the one that dragged Alyssa out of that house, I'm the one who carried her to safety and kept her safe until I got home. I'm the one who let my guard down and let her dick of a father take her. So don't sit there and pretend to know what you're talking about when you weren't the one to see Callcus behead Aunt Amelia and run Aunt Ezra through so just the hell up." Sirius barked.

"Shit, mate I'm sorry. I didn't know." James sighed.

"Whatever."

"But why didn't the ministry take your word though, you were there you could have given proof." James asked after a moments silence.

"I did, but they were too interested in Alyssa side of the story. Dad said that the court was hoping to see whether or not she was her mothers daughter or her fathers, turns out she still favoured her father even after everything. I guess it was just shock and fear that had a grip on her then." Sirius sighed.

"You must miss her." Remus asked Sirius as he set down the paper.

"Every second of every day."

"So what are you going to do then, they can't find her. She could be dead or something." James added.

"I know, I've went over every possibility." Sirius sighed as he leaned his head against the cool window as the train began to move. "I guess I just have to move on and accept I'm never getting her back."


	9. The number twelve

**The Sorceress and the Grim**

**Chapter nine**

**The number twelve.**

Twelve

That's how many girls he'd hooked up with this week alone not for any casual reason other than the fact he wanted to but more for the reason that he needed a release from all the drama, media and popularity that had been aimed his way after reports came out that Auror's were closing in on Callcus Rivas. He had been staring at the same page for over ten minutes now and the only word that stood out to him was the number twelve.

Twelve Auror's killed.

Twelve Death Eaters arrested.

Twelve people injured.

Twelve people who had came forward with the whereabouts of Alyssa Rivas.

Twelve times James and poked him in the side for not paying attention to him.

Sirius hated the number twelve and he couldn't really recall the last time he ever felt his heart race like this as things started turning from bad to good. Even though his relationship with his mother had deteriorated he still managed to remain close to his brother and father, who had been keeping him updated on what had been going on. Sighing to himself, fourteen year old Sirius turned and caught his friends hand as James went to steal the bacon of his plate.

"James, mate we've talked about this. You know not to take food of my plate or face losing that pretty hand of yours."

"You think my hands pretty, I didn't know you cared Sirius." James laughed.

"You've been staring at that page for half an hour now, is everything okay." Remus asked as he set down his drink.

Sirius just merely stared at his friend as he began to realise how much time had actually gone by. Shaking his head, Sirius smiled as he thought back to how things had started out in his first year. Remus had been positively terrified of them along with his friend Peter Pettigrew, a chubby sort of boy with an interesting sense of humour and a knack for cheese and wine. James and Sirius had managed to get in some trouble with the Transfiguration professor and head of Gryffindor house Minerva McGonagall and surprisingly enough Remus vouched for the two trouble makers and saved them from a week of detention. After that the four of them had became awfully close and people had often thought of them as a strange set of adoptive brothers, Sirius kind of liked the idea of them being brothers it gave him something other than his family to care about.

However with their friendship came true hardships as their loyalty was put to the test year after year. By the start of their second year James and Sirius had already began to notice Remus' strange disappearances and by half term they had figured out what his problem was and confronted him about it. Neither boy had expected Remus' reaction to be the way it was, he had automatically thought they were going to get him expelled and begged them to give him a chance and went on about how he just wanted to be as normal as he possibly could. When Sirius had moved towards Remus, Peter had stood in front of the sandy haired boy as a form of protection. But Sirius just included the mousey boy in the hug he had intended for the werewolf. Since then James, Sirius and Peter had been working on a way to perfect the Animagus transformation spell which was turning out to be a very hard task to do with school work, Quidditch and their growing popularity.

Peter the quiet and protective one.

Remus the logical bookworm.

James the Quidditch fanatic and athlete.

Sirius the schools bad boy and heart breaker.

He hadn't intended to become the way he had but it helped him work through his problems especially seeing as the school had soon learned about Alyssa and her relationship with him. His current group of fan girls had took it upon themselves of trying to rid him of his heart ache which believe it or not he did not appreciate. It was times like this that he hated being who he was, the typical Black, with his haughty good looks and mysterious grey eyes. But when things became that bit to much he was grateful they were there as it helped him forget about her, forget about Alyssa. But over time he had started dating girls that looked like her, brown haired, green eyes, happy or sad. Any little thing that reminded him of her he took just to feed the ache in his heart and it helped more than anybody could realise.

He didn't sleep with every girl he dated no matter what ridiculous story they had spun but Sirius' current girlfriend, Ravenclaw Julie Tate, had become a source of strength for him as after their third month of dating Julie had figured him out and helped him in a way he couldn't have imagined. She had become the girl that had replaced Alyssa in his heart and Julie had been surprisingly sad to see it so. But now with how close Auror's were getting Sirius never expected to receive the letter the tawny owl had dropped of with the morning post.

"Sirius, are you okay" Peter had asked quietly as he watched his friends face fall in horror.

"Hey, Sirius…What's wrong." James added with a hint of worry in his voice.

A few other students around their table had looked up and watched the young Black but more soon joined as Sirius stood up and bolted out of the great hall. James had caught eyes with Julie and she followed the three other boys out of the hall to catch up with Sirius who had in turn tore out of the front doors and down towards the lake. By the time they had caught up with him Sirius was on the ground shaking with the letter clutched in his tight hands.

"Sirius, are you okay." Julie asked softly as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"This." Sirius growled in response as he thrust the letter in her hands. "This is what's wrong."

Julie carefully took the letter from him and her eyes immediately fell to the signature at the bottom of the page. She had knew to expect this one day but for this letter to show up now when Julie and made a great deal of progress with the Black heir was very poor timing even though it was a good thing Sirius now knew she was still alive. Julie caught eyes with the other boys as she looked down and began reading out the letter.

_My dearest Sirius,_

_I am so sorry it has been so long since you've heard from me; things have been extremely difficult but know that I am safe and well. I am currently at the Black manor in Paris staying with Arcturus and Melania after I managed to get away from the house Callcus had brought in the French country side and in a few short hours I will be at Grimmauld place and even though I know you are probably at school I hope you will meet me there. You are probably wondering where I've been and wondering what has happened since that awful night, know this that it isn't as bad as you are probably thinking. _

_After Callcus took me away that night we stayed with another family he had been living with behind my mothers back. They are horrible I swear they make Aunt Druella and Uncle Cygnus look like saints. My stepmother (which she insists I call her) is simply a horrendous looking pig with a terrible sense of style and her two sons are the biggest bunch of muppet's you will ever meet. Instead of Hogwarts I started Beauxbatons which in turn was actually pretty cool; I've managed to make a few friends who are actually starting Hogwarts in 3rd__ year where I will also be attending. Not much else has happened only that I am now a registered Animagus. The Animagus potion we did in third year was quiet tricky and for those who got it right were offered the choice to become one, which I did and my form is a white wolf, we've been working on it all year so I was quite glad it worked even though all the work goes to my friend Alison as it turns out I am horrible with potions and have blow up 36 cauldrons since I've been here. It's pretty cool I suppose other than the fact I get terribly frisky around full moons but I'm guessing you didn't want to know that. _

_Anyway, I will be back in England soon enough and we can catch up on everything we've missed. Again I am so sorry for everything, I tried to write to you sooner but Callcus and his filth of a family watched my every move. _

_Forever yours_

_Alyssa C Elsa._

_P.s I'm taking on my mother's maiden name I'm done being related to that filth._

Julie had tried very hard not to growl out that _forever yours_ and with the way Sirius had flinched he certainly didn't want to hear it. She had no idea what way things were going to work out not after all the time that had passed, she had no idea what to expect whenever Alyssa did actually arrive at Hogwarts nor did they have any idea what her intentions were. Everyone knew of the infamous binding between the two heirs and Julie knew that Sirius could choose to spend his life with Alyssa or live his life the way he wanted to all he had to do was make his choice when he turned seventeen and Julie hoped to god he chose to please himself instead of others.

"What are you going to do" James asked.

"I'm not going." Sirius replied instantly.

And as he stood up and threw a rock into the lake that skipped twelve times Sirius turned to look at the others and Julie realised there and then that things were never going to be the same. The mixture of anger and sadness that echoed in his eyes sent shivers to her very core and as her boyfriend ripped the letter out of her hand and let it burst into flames Julie felt her heart flutter in a way she didn't want it to. She never knew to expect her and Sirius to last this long and now as she watched him stand and stare at the afternoon sun she had never expected to realise just how much she cared about him. She never expected to look at Sirius Orion Black as her brother instead of her boyfriend.


	10. A secret untold

**The Sorceress and the grim**

**Chapter ten**

**A secret untold.**

"So it turns out Alyssa never went to Grimmauld, she's staying in France until the start of term." First year Regulas Black informed his older brother.

The two of them sat quietly under a tree away from prying eyes as Sirius didn't want anyone to find out that the two brothers were still very close regardless of how they pretended that they weren't. Regulas had tried getting Sirius to see sense but eventually the younger sibling gave in and let Sirius continue his ways. He had always known his elder brother would never be as perfect as their mother wanted him to be, it just wasn't in Sirius' blood to be as pure as his family was regardless of anything he said or did. Everyone knew though that if his family needed him Sirius would still help out just as long as it didn't involve him being made into the perfect Black.

"I figured she wouldn't after I wrote back to her." Sirius replied after a moment's silence.

"Why do you not want to see her, I thought you would be over joyed having her back." Regulas asked quietly.

"I dunno Reg, I guess I got over her seeing as I have Julie now."

"Mother went to see her; she says Alyssa has changed quite a bit."

"Let me guess looks just like her mother." Sirius grumbled.

"Something like that, she isn't as quiet and shy as she used to be. She's became quite bold and a bit to honest in my opinion." Regulas grinned wryly.

"Reggie start making sense will you."

"Well let me put it this way, Alyssa didn't like what mother was wearing and noticed she had put on some weight." Regulas said as his grin grew wider. "And told her."

"She didn't." Sirius exclaimed as his eyes grew wide. "And she lived."

"Yeah, mother came back in quite a foul mood saying something about how she was just like her mother and how she'd whip Alyssa right back into shape."

Sirius couldn't help but laugh at this, sure he always talked back to his mother but even he knew were to draw the line especially when it came to his mother's weight and sense of style. Walburga Black had always struggled with her weight since having her two sons but Sirius had never liked how the Black women had always been stick thin. But even he had to laugh at how bold his childhood friend was for talking to his mother like that.

"I know you miss her Sirius, why will you not just meet up with her." Regulas pressed.

"Because I like how things are with me and Julie. What ever was supposed to happen between me and Alyssa won't happen. I just don't care about her that way, I thought I did but since being apart from her I've realised that it was just a stupid childish crush." Sirius growled back.

"Whatever you say Sirius." Regulas grumbled back.

"We should head back the feast is going to start soon, can't believe your going to be a second year soon." Sirius smiled.

"Yeah and you'll be a big bad fifth year, Merlin help us all." Regulas laughed.

"Well aren't you funny, one might think you grew a sense of humour." Sirius grinned as he ruffled his brother's hair.

Regulas groaned in response and managed to somehow get out of his brothers grip and broke into a run towards the castle with Sirius close behind him. To anyone watching they would think the two brothers had argued again but if you looked closely you could just about see the flicker of a smile on both of their faces.

* * *

><p>For the Marauders, as they had come to call themselves, fourth year had flown by even though it had been the most uneventful year they had attended. They swore that their fifth year was to be filled with a lot more pranks, jokes and in Sirius' words a jolly old good time. Yet as they now sat at the end of year feast listening to Dumbledore's speech the four boys couldn't help but smile wickedly as their end of year prank kicked in at the perfect moment.<p>

At the very moment the head master had finished all the candles went out and as they flickered back to life a thousand miniature clowns stood in the middle of the great hall, all holding cream pies and aiming at a majority of the students. The Marauders had a spoken rule when it came to the other students, first years only get picked on in their first month of starting school and are not to be targeted again until their second year, every one else was free reign. For the rest of the year the four boys made up with the first years and helped them around the castle before carefully warning them that things would change once they started their next year, harmless of course. But now as every student tried to duck out of the way of the pie throwing clowns the first years sat their as quietly as could be before a net appeared above them and dropped a bunch of flour on top of them.

"Alright, alright settle down now." Dumbledore ordered as he vanished away the trouble, a ghost of smile on his face as his baby blue eyes twinkled with mirth. "Now that you have all had your fun I think it is time that you were off before the train leaves without you."

* * *

><p>A few hours later found the four friends sitting in their usual compartment experimenting with a game of exploding snap. Remus, who was torn between playing and working on the map they had began creating, looked up as Julie stood outside motioning for him to get Sirius' attention. The sandy haired boy did so by picking up a pumpkin pastry and threw it at the dark haired marauder causing him to drop his cards and having the whole deck explode in his face. Looking up Sirius had aimed to snap at the werewolf before he caught a glimpse of his girlfriend and went out to join her leading the other three boys to watch the on going show.<p>

"You could have came in you know." Sirius grinned as he took his girlfriends hand and kissed it.

"Always the charmer, I didn't quite know how to get your attention as I actually come bearing bad news." Julie replied as she looked up at him sadly.

"Alright I admit it, you got me. I've fallen for you, madly, deeply, broadly, thinly." Sirius laughed as he made to kiss her.

"I really hope you're joking." Julie grimaced causing the laughter to die from Sirius' face.

"I'm not actually." Sirius frowned. "What's this about Julie?"

"I'm really not quite sure how to do this but it needs to be said as I can't keep leading you on."

"Spit it out will you."

"I want us to break up, not for anything bad before you start jumping to conclusions it's just that I don't feel the same way you do about me. Well I do but in a more brother and sister type of way, if that even makes a single bit of sense." Julie said quickly.

"You what…Your breaking up with me, are you mad woman." Sirius scowled.

"I think you're a fool for choosing me over Alyssa, you haven't seen her since you were little how can you not want to be reunited after everything that's happened."

"You did write to her didn't you, even when I told you not to. Julie this has nothing to do with you okay, well it does but not all of it."

"It's not fair for you to care about me the way you do when I don't feel the same, it isn't fair on both of us and it certainly isn't fair the way you treated Alyssa. Sirius the girl needed you; her reply to me was full of such hate because she believes I took you away from her."

"I wasn't even hers in the first place for Merlin's sake; there was nothing between us if there was its long gone now. Fuck I fell in love you for fuck sake and now your saying you want to end it all because Alyssa's jealous." Sirius snapped.

"Are you even reading between the lines, have you even figured out that things are not fine with her? I didn't have to see her to know she was lying in her letter to you when she said she was fine, Sirius my mom works in St Mungo's you know that and she told me Alyssa had been in there for malnutrition and abuse. They bloody beat for Pete's sake." Julie retorted.

"How the fuck would you know you haven't even seen her."

"Because she fucking told me." Julie shouted before she slammed her hand over her mouth.

"You're lying, she wouldn't, she doesn't even know you." Sirius glared.

Julie stared sadly back at him before she reached into her robe pocket and pulled out a crumpled up piece of parchment. Opening it up she smoothed the letter out before handing it over to her now ex-boyfriend who glared darkly at her before snatching it out of her hands and glanced over it quickly, immediately picking up the tear stains that marked the page.

"But why would Alyssa lie to me, she could have told me." Sirius mumbled as she looked up Julie.

"I think she felt it better to talk to you in person, hence why she wanted to meet up with you. She's been trying to pull out coming to Hogwarts but if she stays in France then she has to go back to her father. If she comes to England your family can take her in, they are her god-parents are they not. This is the perfect time for them to step in and keep her safe, keep her in their custody." Julie reassured.

"I hate how you always manage to be right."

"I know and I hate having to do this to you but you and I both know it's not going to work out, this is for the best."

"Yeah, I guess it makes sense." Sirius sighed. "I've been a right dick."

"She'll forgive you; I know she still cares about you just be prepared to work for it."

Julie joked as she pulled Sirius into a hug before kissing him on the cheek and leaving him to slide down onto the floor. He didn't even look up as James, Remus and Peter came to comfort him, nor did he object when Remus reached for the letter and stared worryingly at his friends as he saw a few of the sentences before reading it out loud.

_Dear Julie,_

_I don't know who the hell you think you are writing to me in the manner you did you have no right to question my intentions. You can keep that two faced; no good bastard and you can tell him I said that. I don't give damn what your own intentions are just keep your nose out of my business and I'll keep mine out of yours. But to answer your question yes I was lying when I said I was well and yes your mother had no right to tell you of my condition but I will not be having her fired for it. Believe it or not you are the only one, even though I don't even know you, who have read between the lines and have noticed that I am not okay even though you are miles away. _

_To answer your other question things were indeed that awful and I don't even know why I am telling you this but you are the only one who has shown they cared as so far I have done nothing but piss the Black's of with how emotional I have became. I needed him and he chose you over me, me who needed his comfort so badly and yes it royally pissed me off. Yet in a way I am glad he found somebody as caring as you. Again I don't know why I'm telling you this but yes, things were that horrific and no it wasn't sexual abuse but more physical. They beat me and worked me just like a house elf, after every experiment my disgusting father did I was made to clean up and dispose of the body I would object only to be beaten into submission._

_I guess in a sense it has made me a stronger and a more determined person, the Black's would be so proud. Sarcasm intended._

_Alyssa._


	11. Ravenclaw

Hey guys, sorry it's been awhile things have been hectic over christmas and the new years etc. How was everyones christmas.

Anyway I've written a few chapters as a way to make up for not updating in a while. So here is chapter eleven and if I'm going of course with personalities etc and make them less like themselves please let know me as I'm ill at the minute and having a hard time focusing but I've had the following chapters looked over by a beta so they should be fine. Anyway this is a first time writing in a Kreacher POV so I hope you like it.

Enjoy :)

**The Sorceress and the Grim**

**Chapter eleven**

**Ravenclaw**

Kreacher had never been a patient house elf; Kreacher has never been a quiet one either. Kreacher is however loyal to the Black family and when mistress gives Kreacher an order, Kreacher will not disobey. Kreacher was sent on an errand that involves collecting a certain runaway brat and now Kreacher begins to wonder if mistress is sane.

"Ah there you are elf, I take it you are here to take Alyssa home then." Master Arcturus asks Kreacher.

"Kreacher serves mistress well and if mistress says to collect the lady Rivas then Kreacher will."

Arcturus says nothing and Kreacher can't help but glower at the smirking man, Kreacher does not like Arcturus he thinks the old master is to big for his boots, French minister of magic or not. It only takes a second for Kreacher to notice a girl staring at him and Kreacher quickly prepares himself for the onslaught she calls hugs. Yet Kreacher is left confused as Lady Rivas walks past Kreacher and waits patiently by the door.

"Alyssa is not her usual self today, the poor girl didn't want to go back to Grimmauld but alas it will be safer for her there. " Old Arcturus tells Kreacher.

Kreacher is loyal but does not linger on things that do not concern him yet Kreacher is wondering how things will turn out when Kreacher takes Lady Rivas to Grimmauld place.

* * *

><p>Walburga had known Sirius would choose to stay at Hogwarts and she also knew that his excuse, <em>I'm preparing for my owls<em>, was a load of rubbish. Ever since her son had learned Alyssa was alive, well and coming back to England he had made it his life mission to avoid the topic completely leaving Walburga wondering what exactly it was she missed. Sirius and Alyssa had been so close and been through so much and Walburga expected her eldest son to at least want to welcome her back yet he wasn't interested in the slightest. At the sound of a sharp crack Walburga looked up and stared into the dull green eyes of her god daughter another crack was heard shortly afterwards as Kreacher placed Alyssa's luggage in her room giving Walburga a chance to take in how much Alyssa had changed.

"I still expected you taller." Walburga said after a moments silence before striding over to the young brunette and embracing her in a motherly hug.

"That is the first thing that comes to your mind, I expected you taller, are you actually kidding me. Can you honestly not think of anything else to say other than to talk about my height?" Alyssa grumbled in response as she wrapped her arms tightly around her godmothers figure.

"It wouldn't matter what I say child, you will still bite my head of as if I have just insulted you." Walburga smirked.

"I have good reason to, do I not?"

"No."

"Figures"

Silence dragged on after the brief conversation and Walburga knew the young teenager was counting down the minutes she would be leaving to continue her studies at Hogwarts. Alyssa had deliberately put of agreeing to come back to England knowing she would miss the start of term which would hopefully get her out of going to the infamous school. Yet Albus Dumbledore had been quite sincere and made arrangements for her to be privately sorted to avoid any chaos that could arise due to the unlucky fame she had gained due to her father's actions. Callcus Rivas had quickly became a taboo subject amongst the Hogwarts students and when rumours surfaced that his daughter was coming to Hogwarts they had quickly made up a quick impression and dislike of her.

"Aunt Walburga please can I not just stay at Beauxbatons, Regulas has told you what it is they already say about me. My father's actions have already painted a bad image of me and none of them have even met me yet." Alyssa urged.

"Exactly they haven't met you so their views will quickly change when they do, Alyssa just because your imbecile of a father is a murderous toe rag does not mean you have to change how you live your life. They are only targeting you because nobody knows where Callcus is so they cannot target him, children will easily choose to pick on those they can see rather than those they can't." explained Walburga.

"And what if I get sorted into a house you or I do not want."

"Then I will have to deal with it just like I deal with Sirius being a Gryffindor." Walburga sneered.

"Why does he hate me?" Alyssa sighed after another moment's silence.

"I couldn't tell you my dear; I don't think he hates you I simply think he doesn't know how to handle you coming back into his life after everything that happened. You know us Blacks have a hard time dealing with change."

"I couldn't agree more." Orion Black sounded from the doorway. "Are we ready to go then?"

"I guess so." Alyssa groaned.

* * *

><p>Albus Dumbledore was an extraordinary old man with a strange obsession for lemon drops and the Hogwarts headmaster was always seen as quite the unusual fellow with the way he would be quite lenient one minute yet as strict as can be the next with a twinkle in his eyes that never ceases to amaze. So as he sat in his pale green robes staring at the young girl before him Albus Dumbledore could not be more astonished to find that Ezra Rivas' daughter hated the very sight of him and the school she was due to reside in for the next three years. He sat with his hands folded neatly in his lap and watched as her young and tired expression changed as the sorting hat she currently wore on top of her head spoke to her.<p>

"RAVENCLAW." The hat soon shouted and Albus was positive he heard Walburga mumble something along the lines of _just like her mother. _This would be more than true as Ezra Rivas had been everything a Ravenclaw stood for and took her place as a prefect and head girl in her final years with pride.

"Well at least you're not a hufflepuff." Orion smiled.

"I think I'm more grateful I don't have to share a house with Sirius and the fact I'm not a Slytherin like my father." Alyssa grumbled as she handed the hat back to the head master.

"Your mother was an excellent role model for the Ravenclaw students; she prided herself for being part of that house as I hope you will do as well. I took the liberty of having a uniform sent up for you." Albus smiled.

"How in the heck did you know I would be a Ravenclaw?" Alyssa wondered.

"I didn't, I just simply ordered a plain uniform and will merely charm them to bear the Ravenclaw house colours and emblem." The headmaster beamed as he taped the uniform with his wand before handing it to the young girl.

"Well now that is sorted we will be taking our leave, Alyssa do behave and try not to get into any trouble." Walburga urged.

"I can't promise you anything." Alyssa replied as she continued to study Dumbledore curiously "Alright old man I will give this until the end of the year."

"Excellent, you will come to enjoy your stay here and do not worry about the silly things children say as they are as I said, just children." Dumbledore beamed.

As Walburga and Orion Black took their leave Dumbledore led Alyssa to Ravenclaw tower only for him to leave and look for Professor Flitwick instead urging her to explore the castle she was to stay in. Grumbling, Alyssa used the wand she had purchased before coming to Hogwarts to change her current clothes into her uniform. Sighing she began her walk down the grand staircase and looked on in wonder as the portraits moved about to watch her before she continued her way down the stairs.

* * *

><p>"Honestly mate, I'm telling you his eyes were as big as bludgers."<p>

"Come of it James, you mean Mackey actually fell for it."

"Sirius, everyone knows how much of an idiot Mackey is. If someone told him his girlfriend was hanging upside down above his head he'd bloody look up even if she was standing right beside him."

"Yeah but to tell him you banged her in the supply closet while he was right outside the door." Sirius grinned. "That's a bit much mate."

"Well I didn't say he believed me, he just stared at me wide eyed as Mary buried her head in her hands. I think he's finally cottoned on that he's way too easy." James laughed.

"What do you think Jessica my dear?" Sirius asked his current girlfriend that clung to his side.

"I think James is right, Isaac Mackey is a bit of a push over he'll believe anything you tell him yet he has grown a bit of a back bone." Jessica giggled as she wrapped her arms around her boyfriends.

"There you have it." Sirius cheered planting a joyful kiss to Jessica's head before his eyes caught sight of someone standing by the staircase behind James and the smile fell from his face instantly.

"Sirius did someone just walk over your grave, you look like you just seen the dead rise or something." James smirked before following his best friends gaze.

"Hey isn't that Alyssa Rivas, the murders daughter?" Jessica asked as she looked up at Sirius.

"Aly." Sirius whispered so quietly that Jessica barely managed to hear it.

"Do you want to go elsewhere to talk or something?" Jessica urged as she tried to get him to take her eyes of the brunette that stood behind James.

The Black heir didn't reply instead Jessica watched as Sirius' eyes went from shinning with laughter to shock to being filled with guilt as he saw for the first time the extent of the damage done over the past years to his old friend. From where he stood Sirius could see how her eyes no longer shined, how her hair fell lifelessly around her face and how her uniform hung from her body. But as Sirius made to move towards Alyssa her green eyes hardened before she turned and walked back up the stairs she came from and as she walked up those stairs the guilt of not being there for her hit Sirius like a thousand swords going through his body and his newly repaired heart broke once again.


	12. The start of something new

**The Sorceress and the grim**

**Chapter twelve**

**The start of something new**

It had been almost a week now since she had started Hogwarts and had immediately became her houses outcast. Alyssa spent most of her time either in the library or out on the castle grounds away from the other students. Every now and again she would sit down with Regulas Black and they would talk about anything that came to mind but the one thing that worried her was how one of the students she shared a room with watched her in a way a mother would watch her child. Alyssa hadn't took the time to learn any of her house mates names as she knew she wouldn't need them yet it annoyed her that she didn't know the name of this particular girl. Since arriving at the Ravenclaw tower Alyssa had only been approached to be asked question revolving around two topics.

Her father or Sirius Black.

It was no surprise that the Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry knew of the relationship, or lack of for that matter, between the two childhood friends and Alyssa soon realised that Sirius had became quite a popular subject between the Ravenclaw girls and soon learnt that some of them if not a majority had been his companions in one way or another. Now whether or not they had slept with him or just been something else Alyssa didn't care what she did care about though was the way they pestered her for every little detail she knew about him and now sat in the library wondering how he actually dealt with the over-zealous fan girls.

"Don't worry, Sirius just ignores a majority of them after a while." A voice sounded from beside her.

"Can I help you?" Alyssa growled as she noticed it was the girl she had been thinking about earlier.

"Sorry it's just you were muttering about sill fan girls and Sirius for a good few minutes and I quickly put the pieces together, my names Julie by the way I'm the one who wrote to you."

"Ah yes, Sirius' girlfriend or ex I'm guessing after seeing him with a different girl." Alyssa groaned.

"Yeah, we broke up after I received your reply to be honest." Julie smiled.

"Why?" Alyssa asked before she could stop herself.

"Because I felt he was being an idiot for not wanting to see you, for ignoring you and pretending you didn't exist any more." Julie replied as she sat down in the chair across from the staring brunette.

"He doesn't like change." Alyssa whispered.

"Sorry what was that?"

"Sirius doesn't like change, none of the Blacks do. If he had grown accustomed to me not being around my sudden appearance can be a bit too much to handle and he usually ignores stuff like that until he's ready to accept it." Alyssa explained.

"Ah, it makes sense, then again he's changing girls more than usual."

"Probably to keep himself busy or focused on other things rather than stuff he doesn't want to. Why are you talking to me because if it's going to continue to be about him then I suggest you leave?"

"Oh no, sorry I just wanted to come over and say hi. Nobody has really taken time to welcome you to Hogwarts." Julie said as she grinned sheepishly.

"Why would they, all I am to them is a murderers daughter. You had plenty of opportunities to talk to me."

"Believe it or not I just didn't know how to approach you; you give of this vibe that makes people think you're a bitch." Julie laughed.

"I am." The way Alyssa had replied so brashly had stunned Julie for a bit and she couldn't help but stare at the girl and wonder how lonely she actually was.

"I don't believe that and I'm sorry for leaving it till now to come and say hi." Julie said softly.

"Don't be, I'm not a very approachable person. It's just the way I grew up and I hate it." Alyssa said as she chucked her quill down on the table in frustration.

"Yeah I understand but if you want I can help, I can show you around the castle so you're more familiar with it and don't get lost. Or I could help you with that potions essay." Julie smiled.

"I suck at potions; none of it makes sense to me." Alyssa groaned. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Because you're not as evil and demented as they all say you are I don't believe you're a cold hearted bitch with the mind of a serial killer…"

"They say that." Alyssa interrupted. "I haven't heard that one before"

"Ignore them doll, they don't know you but I'd like to get to as I'm pretty sure you could do with a friend right now." Julie assured.

Alyssa didn't reply and she couldn't help but feel a bit upset with the way Julie had spoke with a kindness that reminded her of her mother. She had painted this image of Julie of being this nosey, two bit know it all and to find out that she was actually a compassionate and genuine person made her feel guilty for cursing her very existence.

"I know you've probably grew to dislike me because of my blunt letters to you and I don't blame you, I put my nose right into something that was none of my business but I really hate seeing you shy away from everything and everyone it makes you look more like a hufflepuff than a Ravenclaw." Julie joked.

"Nobody has been that kind to me since my mother; the Blacks are a different type of kindness which just gives you shivers down your spine. But you, you've been so nice and I know you're the one telling the others off when my stuff went missing. I've noticed how you've been looking out for me and don't think I'm not grateful I just don't understand why." Alyssa wondered as she studied Julie.

"Then let me help you understand by being your friend, as I said I don't believe every thing they say about you and I for one want to get a chance to get to know you to prove to others that your really not that scary."

Alyssa couldn't help but laugh for the first time in a while, for people to be afraid of her made Alyssa realise that she could see why they would be after everything they heard about her father and knew nothing of her so naturally they would assume she was just like him. Yet as she laughed and saw Julie smiling before laughing as well made Alyssa think that this school may not be all bad.

Neither girl had noticed the Gryffindor watching them from behind the bookcases, his grey eyes observing intensely. Ever since he had seen Julie get up and go over to Alyssa, Sirius couldn't help but be a bit curious and went to listen in only to watch as Julie was her usual compassionate self which he couldn't help but smile at. But as Alyssa began to laugh Sirius felt his heart tug painfully at the sound he had missed more than he began to realise.

_Julie was right; I should have jumped at the chance to have Aly back. _Sirius thought to himself.

The Gryffindor timetable had been changed due to the continuous clashes between them and the Slytherin's and now the red and gold house shared classes with the Ravenclaw's. Since she had stared Hogwarts Sirius had watched Alyssa carefully in and out of class and had quickly noticed how she stayed away from everyone and no one wanted to partner with her, always being the first one in and the last one out of class. In the great hall she would sit close to the teachers which Sirius guessed was because of the door beside her which he caught her glancing at every so often. Since their first meeting Sirius had tried talking to Alyssa only to find that every time he went over to her she would disappear and now as he took a deep breath he made his way over to the table to try and fix things with his childhood friend only to find Alyssa glaring coldly at him

"What do you want?" Alyssa growled as she spotted him.

"Can we talk?" Sirius asked quickly.

"No."

"Julie, do you mind?" Sirius asked as he hinted for his ex to leave.

"You heard her Sirius, she said no alright." Julie replied as she stood up and led Sirius away. "Look now isn't the right time, she's really mad at you."

"How in the hell would you know, you've barely even spoken to her." Sirius snapped.

"Well with the way her eyes harden and the way she talks about you with such distaste kind of speaks volumes don't you think that and they way she just growled at you." Julie replied calmly.

"I've been a damn idiot haven't I, when in the world did I become the wizarding world biggest prick." Grumbled Sirius as he ran his hands through his hair.

"Alyssa explained to me how you handle change…"

"You mean how I don't" he interrupted.

"Yes well that too, I understand but it doesn't make up for you being a complete ass but with the way things went I don't blame you for being a little bit scared." Julie continued.

"I was not scarred, I don't get scarred." Sirius protested.

"Okay so you weren't scarred but it was definitely something that spooked you into not wanting to take her back into your life. Look, I'm sorry we ended on such bad terms but I don't blame you and I'm not mad at you for it at least now you realise your mistake."

"Yeah, I guess." Sirius sighed. "Look could you talk to her for me, tell her I'm sorry, tell her…"

"You can do that yourself when she calms down." Julie interrupted as she held up her hand for him to stop his rambling.

"You don't know her; she can hold a grudge like no tomorrow."

"And I don't think you know her any more than I do right now, I bet from the young girl you knew to who she is you barely know her at all. So just back off from her a bit and let her get settled, give it till the end of the month and I'll see what I can do." Julie assured.

"You are an absolute saint Jules." Sirius' expression softened slightly. "Do you think we could start again and probably be mates, kinda miss having you as my female consort?"

"Sirius Orion Black I would love to but first let me deal with Alyssa, things are pretty rough in the tower." Julie smiled.

"Yeah I've heard, look I'll talk to them. Merlin knows they bloody worship the ground I walk on; you know there are sometimes I really hate having the Blacks infamous good looks, well being a Black full stop." Sirius groaned.

"But then where would you be without them." Julie grinned "You'd be nothing, everyone knows us girls only use you for your looks."

"Oh very funny Julie, absolutely hilarious. My sides are splitting from how much I'm laughing right now." Sirius said sarcastically yet still held a grin on his face. "I did love you, you know that right."

"I know and I'm sorry for everything, it was just weird when I loved you like a sibling."

"Yeah, I guess in a sense I was jumping to fast on my emotions it could have been the same. I always wanted a sister and now I have you." Sirius laughed.

"There, we can be surrogates." Julie said as she giggled.

"You should go; Alyssa looks ready to murder me if I don't give back her new friend."

"Her only friend." Julie corrected.

"She still has me, nothing's changed I was just too blind to see it and now all I want is for her to see." Sirius sighed sadly.

"Look I'll see what I can do, but I can't promise you anything so don't hold your breath just yet okay."

"Thanks poppet." Sirius smiled

As he watched Julie head back over to Alyssa he couldn't help but notice how her face lit up slightly to have someone pay her some attention into a friendlier way than what she was used to. At the thought of what she had gone through at the hands of her deranged father, Sirius felt his heart tug painfully again as he began to realise that he may never be the one to make her smile so happily the way Julie just did.


	13. Quidditch Try outs

Sorry, I've been inactive for awhile but I have been recovering from surgery and couldn't find the strength to type any chapters up. I can't remember when students were allowed to play Quidditch, I felt it wise to start in fifth year.

**The Sorceress and the Grim**

**Chapter thirteen**

**Quidditch try outs**

Thing's hadn't changed much over time and Sirius found himself going a fourth night in a row without sleep. He had tried every trick in his book but that had only made Alyssa avoid talking to him altogether and this infuriated him. It was currently 7:30 in the morning and Quidditch practice started at 8:00, Sirius could never understand why James insisted to the current team captain 7th year Clark Mosley that having practice at such an ungodly hour was "healthy" but Mosley listened and booked the pitch. It was times like this on a cool Saturday morning that Sirius hated being a part of the team but he found release in being a beater and that was the only reason he joined regardless of what anyone said.

"Oi mate, you getting up" James called snapping Sirius out of his daze.

"Yeah I'm up."

Stretching his limps and fixing his twisted boxers Sirius slowly crawled out of his bed and towards the shower and the two boys were dressed and heading towards the pitch with brooms in hand where the rest of the team were waiting and as per usual Mosley was absent.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late but I just bumped into Jackson, who told me that he's quit." Mosley informed as he reached his team.

David Jackson was Ravenclaw's seeker and captain but was also the cousin Mosley counted as family and was known for his fast reflexes and difficult strategies. But most of all he was the smartest boy in school who was quickly being rivalled by Gryffindor's very own Remus Lupin who was a known book worm with constant information.

"What happened?" Bradley Crawford, Gryffindor's seeker asked.

"He's leaving; Dave is doing his final months in work experience over at Durmstrang, surprised he even got in to be honest" Mosley informed.

"My parents wanted me to go to Durmstrang after I got sorted, funny how that worked out eh" Sirius laughed.

"You'd have been some sort of evil genius if you had, Merlin help us all" Tom Davis the chaser laughed.

"How do you know I'm not already one?" Sirius replied as he stroked his chin

"Touché my good man, touché."

"So any idea who is filling his place?" James asked Mosley.

"Maggie Smyth is claw's new captain so we need to watch out for her as her dedication and competitive nature has seen her soar."

"So no seeker, although Maggie's step-sister Julie is all talk about the new Ravenclaw I heard she's quite the flier." Davis said.

"Do you know how she is Black, you know the girl." Luke Harrison, the other beater asked.

"Are we here to play Quidditch or talk about Ravenclaw's new bitch?" Sirius snapped as he picked up the bludgers and whacked them both across the field.

It was about quarter to ten before other students began filling the stands to watch the Gryffindor team and the one person a few students didn't expect was Alyssa who had been dragged along by Julie, Lucy Baxton and Alison-Jane Mathews. Alison-Jane who preferred to be called AJ had chased after Alyssa in the previous week over claims Alyssa had slept with her boyfriend. It eventually turned out that he had been cheating on her but not with the new Ravenclaw and with Alyssa's help managed to help AJ catch him in the act and the two became good friends. Lucy on the other hand befriended Alyssa in different terms as the muggle-born had managed to get corned one day by some Slytherin 6th years. Alyssa with her connections with the infamous Black family and her father's current reputation managed to scare them of, with the added spell or two from AJ. The four girls soon became joined at the hip and now sat on the middle benches as Lucy and Julie watched the team. AJ however quickly noticed how Alyssa kept glancing at a particular member of the team and soon Sirius caught onto the feeling he was being watched as well.

"LOOK OUT." Harrison yelled as the bludger he had just hit narrowly missed Sirius head and headed towards the stands.

"Damnit Perks you made me loose the snitch with your yelling." Crawford snapped.

"Holy shit." James gasped as he hovered beside Sirius.

The four girls who had been laughing had suddenly stopped as the bludger headed their way, three of them dove to the ground wscreaming while Alyssa bolted down the benches and dove over the edge, landing on the ground as the bludger tore through the stands. As she stood up Crawford caught eye of the glittering snitch in her hand and she smiled up at him as she handed it over.

"Shiny." She giggled.

"Don't mind her." AJ laughed as she took hold of her friend once she reached her. "She's had too many cups of coffee."

"Girl is crazy, but she's got talent." Crawford laughed.

"Keep telling her that but she still won't join the team. Come along now Aly, no more caffeine for you."

"Please don't let her, we'd never win." Crawford joked as he shouted after the retreating girls.

"If she becomes Ravenclaw's seeker, we'll really have competition on her hands and not just from the Slytherin's for once." Mosley joined in.

* * *

><p>Word quickly spread of Alyssa's display on the field and after a few weeks of her classmates urging her to join the team she accepted Maggie's offer to attend the try outs for the Ravenclaw team that were being held at the end of the following week. On the Friday of the try-outs AJ, Lucy and Julie found Alyssa locked in bathroom chanting how she wouldn't be moved as nerves got the better of her. But after promises of chocolate and coffee she allowed herself to be taken down to the pitch with her friends broom in hand. On the field Alyssa found herself competing against seven other students all of which were guys which had started to rattle her nerves again and Julie quickly caught site of this and knew her friend didn't like being around to many men.<p>

"Right we all know why you're here so for all those who were looking for the pie eating competition I'm afraid it's been cancelled and we have Quidditch try-outs instead." Maggie introduced earning herself a few laughs.

Tony Wood jokingly went to walk away and Maggie scowled mockingly at him as he went first for the try-outs. His cocky attitude seemed to compensate for something as his try out was a disaster and he ended up in the bushes a few seconds after he took of the ground. The next guy was reintroduced to the ground as he made to the grab the snitch and it decided to head towards the ground and its chaser didn't manage to stay on his broom.

The third guy Thomas Flatly managed to be the only guy to catch the snitch but as he leaned forward to grab it the back end of his broom rose up and he fell off. The try outs continued out that way until the 7th guy Lucas Fields stepped up with a new up to date broom to rival James Potters. He swerved around the Ravenclaw stands perfectly as he chased after the snitch and after a few minutes he came back down to the ground snitch in hand.

"What's your name?" Maggie asked

"Lucas Fields"

"Very nice flying, right Alyssa your up you have a time of 2 minutes 56 seconds to beat."

The brunette stood rooted to the spot as she stared around at the other people but her eyes soon found familiar grey ones in the crowd and with a gentle push from Julie she took to the air and hovered parallel to the Gryffindor stands were she watched for any sign of the snitch. Her dark green eyes scanned the field carefully and whispers soon reached her ears of people who thought she didn't know what she was doing. But soon a flicker of gold caught her sights and she was off and Sirius watched as the snitch played his old friend through the same routine it did for the second guy. As the snitch dove towards the ground Alyssa stopped for a second before turning her broom completely vertical and dove after it and as the snitch grew inches from the ground Alyssa pulled up and slowly began to stand up on her broom and reach for the snitch. Nearing the stands she grabbed the golden ball and pulled her broom up before heading back towards the ground.

"Well that was some flying." Flatly whistled "A bit long though."

"2 minutes." Maggie started as she checked her stop watch "and 55 seconds, welcome to the team."

Groans resonated from members of the Gryffindor team but Sirius smiled as he thought about how they now had a real challenge on their hands and for once it will be the Lions and the Eagles fighting for the cup just as long as the snakes were put out of the picture. Soon it wasn't long until Halloween was upon them and most of the students including, James, Remus and Peter were heading home for the break. James had invited Sirius along but he had requested to stay informing James of his plans and as he caught site of Alyssa watching her friends leaving on the train back to Kings cross Sirius rubbed his hands and began to put his final plan together.


	14. Pushing forward

**The Sorceress and the Grim**

**Chapter 14**

**Pushing forward**

He hadn't expected it to work out the way it did, not once did he think things would play out as a disaster but end completely different. Sirius had expected everything to be thrown back in his face but finding himself sat under a tree with a familiar brunette by his side was something he did not expect to happen after everything that had happened. Leaning his head back against the tree he looked down as Alyssa flicked through her charms book as she studied for the OWL's due in two week's time. Thinking back to how things had played out he couldn't help but snicker at how he had managed to turn such a disastrous event into something worth while.

"_Alyssa wait up" Sirius called._

"_Oh for Merlin's sake Black will you leave me alone, I don't have time to deal with you right now." The Ravenclaw snarled in return._

"_It won't take long." Sirius replied as he took her arm. "I promise."_

_Alyssa's hard green eyes turned, looked up at him and her brows narrowed in annoyance before she yanked her arm from the Gryffindor's grip and turned to walk away. She had expected him to leave it at that but she wasn't prepared when he grabbed her arm with a bit more strength and turned her around. Her foot caught on a rock causing her to loose her balance and the both of them fell into the icy cold lake. She had never been a strong swimmer and her initial reaction to the temperature of the water was to panic. As she struggled to make her way to the surface arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her upwards and to the bank. _

"_Are you alright?" Sirius asked as he patted Alyssa's back and waited for her to stop coughing._

"_What in the hell were you thinking, grabbing me like that?" Alyssa spluttered. "Are you mad?"_

"_Hey it was-"_

"_Honestly it's like you were trying to drown me, does my existence annoy you that much that you want rid of me."_

"_Oh will you just shut the fuck up." Sirius snapped as he folded his arms and glared at her, the water causing his hair to curl.  
><em>

_Shutting her mouth, Alyssa looked up at him and the two stared at each other before the two burst into stitches of laughter at the incredulous turn of events. Realising just how immature she had been acting Alyssa threw her arms around Sirius' shaking form and whispered her apology into his ear as he welcomed her embrace._

It wasn't her apology that had made him smile it was the way she had whispered it into his ear and it was for reasons she was unaware of. He was interested to see what his friends would think about this and how many "dog jokes" were going to be aimed his way. They had succeeded in becoming Animagi about three weeks into their fifth year after years of practice and planning. So it was no surprise that Sirius' ears were very sensitive as his inner canine relished in the tender caress Alyssa's whisper had given.

"What in the world are you grinning about?" Alyssa asked as she packed up the books she had accio'd to her.

"Oh I'm just enjoying your presence." Sirius grinned.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, now I do believe it's going to rain." Alyssa smiled noticing the dark clouds as she started heading towards the castle.

* * *

><p>A week later found Sirius standing in the Gryffindor common room telling his three friends of his success with Alyssa even though James was less than impressed Remus applauded Sirius' efforts and congratulated him on his success warning him to not mess it up. Peter had piped up that he was happy his friend had a girl in his life that was more than just a plaything for him which had earned him a pillow thrown at him and the four of them ending up in fits of laughter. But soon the pressure of the OWL's were upon them and walking out of the great hall after their Defence against the dark arts OWL laughing about the werewolf questions and not caring who heard made things a lot easier.<p>

"So did you like question ten then Moony" Sirius joked.

"Loved it, it was the most original question of the whole exam." Remus said smartly. "Give five signs that identify a werewolf."

"Do you think you managed to get them all, the signs that is" said James, mock concern etched over his features.

"Possibly, I managed to get three. One: he's sitting in my chair, two: he's wearing my clothes, three: his names Remus Lupin but his closest friends call him Moony you know as in a cryptic message referring to the moon." Lupin joked and laughed along with the other two.

"See I don't think I got them all." Peter said "I got the snout, the eyes and the tufted tail."

"Are you daft, how thick are you Wormtail?" James scolded. "You run around with one once a month."

"Keep your voice down" Remus implored as he finally noticed the amount of people around them.

"Well in my opinion I thought the paper was a piece of cake, wouldn't be too surprised if I got an "outstanding" at least." Sirius said smugly.

"Me too." said James as he took a golden snitch out of his pocket.

"Where'd you get that?" Sirius asked

"Nicked it, of course, Hooch wasn't giving it up." James said casually as they planted themselves down by a nearby tree and started playing with it.

Where he sat Sirius could see a group of girls over by the lake with their feet in the water, one red head stood out and he hoped James didn't spot her but Sirius himself soon caught sight of Alyssa by Lily's side. Beside him, Remus had pulled out a book and James was casually letting the snitch fly a little bit away and catching it with effortless grace that caused Peter to clap with joy and soon James caught sight of the girls by the lake.

"Put that away will you before Wormtail wets himself with joy." Sirius snapped causing Peter to blush.

"If it bothers you," James grinned.

"Wish it was a full moon, I'm so bored."

"You might but you could quiz me instead" Remus said to the boy beside him.

"This'll liven you up Pad's." James snickered before Sirius could reply. "Look who it is…"

Sirius looked up as he caught sight of a familiar greasy haired Slytherin that the boys seemed to enjoy messing with and Sirius became very still as he watched Severus Snape, him and James soon made their way over to him but the Slytherin was ready for them. Across the lake Alyssa had picked up on a commotion that soon began happening on the other side and looked over to see a familiar Slytherin on the ground with two boys standing over him and beside her Lily groaned in annoyance while yanking the grass out of the ground.

"When are they ever going to stop?" Lily moaned.

"You know it's strange, not once have I ever heard about them picking on Severus." Alyssa said sarcastically earning herself a smack from Julie.

"You should talk to him; maybe Sirius would see some sense now that he has you back on his side." Julie suggested.

"Are you kidding, this is the very reason why I didn't want to be friends with him again. What makes you think he'll listen to me after I've told him a thousand times already?"

"He's almost as deaf as Potter," said Lily "Oh Evans, go out with me, Evans its Hogsmeade next weekend, pah!"

"I think someone should step in, it looks like it's getting out of hand." AJ said as she pointed across the lake.

Looking up, Lily growled as she caught sight of her best friend hanging upside down, jumping up from the ground the red headed Gryffindor stormed over to the group shouting and waving her arms in anger. Alyssa watched in mock amusement as Potter seemed to shrink before the woman's wrath. Getting up Alyssa, AJ and Julie went to join the commotion just as Snape slashed his wand and a cut appeared on Potters face. In seconds the Slytherin was upside down and Lily turned an even darker shade of red.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE." She shouted, whipping her wand out.

"Ah, Evans, don't make me hex you." James groaned

"Take the curse of him then"

"Your lucky Evans is here Snivellus." James said as Snape struggled to his feet.

"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her." Snape growled.

Alyssa blinked a few times and everything seemed to go quiet and slow down as the colour drained from Lily's face, turning her eyes up she caught sight of Sirius' face and her expression darkened as Lily swept past her. Those grey eyes seemed to not be able to meet hers as AJ and Julie followed the red head. Walking over to Sirius Alyssa leaned over and whispered something in his ear before turning on her heal and following her friends.

"What did she say to you?" Remus asked,

"…That I was on my last chance…"

And with that said Sirius grabbed James by the arm before he could take off the Slytherin's boxers and dragged him back towards the castle as realisation of his actions soon began to settle in. He realised now that Alyssa hadn't been joking that it was his behaviour that put her off and he knew he had to change if he was to keep her in his life.


	15. The final curtain call

**The Sorceress and the grim**

**Chapter 15**

**The final curtain call**

"You are a disgrace to this family."

"Your one to talk mother, parading around as if you think you're everything."

"Why, you little waste of space, how dare you talk to me like that"

"Walburga that is enough, Sirius go to your room."

He didn't go to his room instead the disgraced Black heir stormed into Alyssa's bedroom on the floor below his and threw himself on her bed sending parchment and books on to the floor. Not looking up from her book Alyssa handed Sirius a vial of cream that he soon applied to the red mark appearing on his face.

"Are you ever going to just sit back and keep your mouth shut." Said Alyssa

"Why in the hell would I do that, she'll think she's finally won."

"But you're making things worse look the Christmas holidays are nearly over and we'll be going back to Hogwarts in a week's time. All you have to do is last until after the New Years Eve party and you'll be fine."

"I don't think I can last until then Aly, she's driving me insane." Sirius groaned.

"Only cause you push her to do so, if you would just listen maybe-"

"Will you give it a rest alright, you sound just like Regulas. I can't wait to escape this house and if by some miracle I still inherit it I'm burning it to the ground."

"Don't be daft; we both know it'll be Regulas that will get it all. That's if he's still alive seeing as I can't see him lasting the long term relationship that is Voldemort's loyal servant." Alyssa implied as she set her book down.

A year had passed and the two childhood friends were going to be heading back into their sixth year and after the disaster that was his fifth year Sirius wasn't expecting this one to be any different. Since his encounter with Snape last year things had gotten frosty between him and the Ravenclaw in front of him. She had told him that his behaviour was something she felt belonged to a squib that had been raised by rats on an island invested with cockroaches. Sirius couldn't help but laugh at the way she said it but he saw her point and after a talk with his best friend James the two decided that maybe toning things down slightly was for the best. When he said slightly he meant making sure nobody saw them do it and so far they hadn't been caught but he had a strange feeling Alyssa knew yet she never said anything.

"I'm leaving you know, in the New Year, I'm leaving this house." Sirius said suddenly as he sat up on his elbows.

"You said that in the summer as well that you'll be gone by July and look your still here."

"I mean it, I've had enough of this place and I want you to come with me."

"Go with you, are you mental, I'm not going anywhere I love it here. This is the only place that I can call home." Alyssa stated.

"Then come to the Potter's with me, Aunt Dorea would love to have you." Sirius implored.

"Yeah, after my father killed Charlus' sister all those years back I doubt it. They hate me Sirius I would even get on the grounds let alone through the front door. Look your not going anywhere your going to stay here till we graduate and when you turn seventeen you'll inherit it all and you change every thing about it, including kicking your parents out."

"Oh I can see it now; my parents on the streets with no were to go and the house burning down before them." Sirius laughed

"What is with you and fire, honestly?" Alyssa laughed.

"I mean it Aly, come the New Year I'll be gone and I'm not coming back."

"Look, can we not talk about this I've got something better to talk about."

"Like what." Sirius said.

"Like Emily's new found interest in your mother's décor." Alyssa giggled.

"Oh merlin, she's never going to learn. Did you see mom's face when she saw Emily open up that yellow paint; I thought she was getting kicked out for sure."

The two of them roared with laughter at the image of Walburga Black picking up the paint tin and dumping it over her PR's body, the image of a yellow Emily was very hard to erase from the mind but then again Grimmauld place did need a spot of colour. Sirius even went as far as suggesting Emily stand in the corner like a statue instead of painting the hallway yellow. That had earned his form being covered in paint as Emily tackled him to the ground, strangely enough his mother seemed to make out that it was his fault and Sirius couldn't figure out why. It was ever since his third year that his feud with his mother had started escalating, ever since he became a Gryffindor they had stood on mutual grounds until he finished his studies and he made a deal with her that if his studies should slip he would go to Durmstrang.

They never did slip, if anything, his grades got better each year and every time his mother got worse.

Sirius could never figure out why his mother had began hating him so much he tried his best to make her happy but no matter what she still found something to nit pick about and her favourite topic was the company he kept. Alyssa had stepped in a few times only to find herself facing the brunt of Walburga's anger and being locked in her room without dinner or magic. But one thing Walburga Black didn't know is that the two of them had learned how to cast magic without a wand and Sirius was slowly mastering the elements, with just fire and earth to go. Alyssa on the other hand found it a lot easier to create fire without her wand and all the basic charms she could do with a flick of her fingers.

Magic without a wand was called Casting and a witch or wizard who could bend the elements to their will was called an Elemental. Ironic, Sirius had always thought but casting had always intrigued him. Casting was well known among pure bloods but Merlin's line were the main ones who could master it very easily but it was when the darker magic was used that they began to fall and that had eventually caused Ezra's timely death. But what intrigued him the most was when Half bloods and Muggle-borns managed to cast it proved to him and Alyssa that his parents and many others were wrong about them, magic didn't weaken with Muggle-borns and Half blood's, it got stronger.

"So I was thinking of asking if I can do my Charm's NEWT without a wand." Alyssa said, breaking Sirius from his thoughts.

"Good luck with that one, I can see it now Fliwick's tiny form cowering behind his desk as his classroom goes haywire." Sirius laughed.

"Oh come on I have it under control." Alyssa groaned. "Look."

"Wait no-"

But his words went unnoticed as Alyssa lifted up her hand and Sirius hair began forming into tiny ringlets and the books on the floor formed into a neat pile on her desk. The curtain were closed and the clothes on the floor were placed back into the wardrobe but even all that couldn't match the dark expression on Sirius' face as the curls fell in front of his eyes and Alyssa's giggles turned into roars of laughter. Growling Sirius pounced on her and the two of them began scuffling on the bed not noticing Orion Black standing in the door way until the two of them fell onto the floor at the mans feet.

"You two have five minutes to get sorted and be at the dinner table or else you starve." Orin said darkly. "Oh and Sirius, I said your room not Alyssa's, don't disobey me again."

December 31st

News year's eve at Grimmauld place never went well, it didn't matter what anybody said or did, it was a celebration the family did not do unless the entire Black family were under the roof of the Black manor in Paris and that was always a rare occasion. This time however turned out to be one of those rare occasions and this time they were at Grimmauld not the manor. Sirius kept thanking his lucky stars that it was only a few family members that made it, namely his grandparents and his mother's brother and wife. The Black heir had no intention of joining them until he was dragged down the stairs by the family house elf under strict orders from his mother.

"Ah there you, please try not to disgrace this house hold any further." Walburga sneered quietly.

"As if that's possible" Sirius mumbled earning himself a sharp look.

"You know keeping a civil tongue will go a long way" Alyssa said behind him as Walburga joined her husband's side.

"That colour doesn't suit you." Sirius huffed as he took in Alyssa's emerald green robes.

"I think it brings out my eyes don't you." She laughed, "Come on Kreacher made his famous tomato and parsley soup, it's to die for I swear."

"You know Walburga, I can get the boy fixed for you if he becomes too much." Cygnus Black informed.

Cygnus Black was a strange sort of man, known for his ghastly interest in all things torture, he was currently aiming to bring the death penalty back into the ministry instead of having law breaking witch or wizards sent to Azkaban, nowadays the Ministry of Magic was sending them to Alcatraz if Azkaban was to good for them. Alcatraz had belonged to the Rivas family until Callcus had decided to vanish and the family turned to ruin, his daughter Alyssa was still too young to claim the family's empire back but by the time she did come of age Cygnus was going to be making sure it stayed within his grasp.

Alcatraz, like Azkaban, was not for the faint hearted. Filled with demons and horrors beyond any ones wildest dreams it was kept for those who the Ministry felt would find comfort in Azkaban as in Alcatraz the law was that there were no rules. As soon as you walked through the gates of the Siberian prison your soul belonged to the warden and there were rumours that the prisoners of Alcatraz could never die and be succumbed to a life long punishment of torture. The current warden of Alcatraz had shamefully met an untimely death in the form of his mangled body being found at the bottom of the cliff the prison stood on and Cygnus had took it in his stride to find a new one, namely himself.

"Now see here brother of mine I don't care what you think you are not sending my son to that pitiful excuse of a hell hole. I would rather lock myself in a room full of Dementor's with nothing but a trifle pudding before I handed him over to you just so you can send him of to that….that place." Walburga growled.

"Regardless of how Sirius get's on we can handle his current rebellion to which he will grow out of, by the time he turns 17 my son, who may I remind you Cygnus is my heir, will be a model family member who will make me proud." Orion warned.

"Now enough of this subject, tell me about Narcissa's engagement." Walburga said, her tone clearly bringing the subject to an end.

Across the room Sirius watched as his parents casually chatted away to their family members and he clearly noticed the way his mothers grip tightened on her glass, he had heard his name mentioned as well as it being joined along side the words Azkaban and Alcatraz which sent strange shivers down his spine. A sharp shattering sound snapped Sirius out of his haze and he looked down to see his hand covered in the glass he had been holding.

"You just couldn't let that poor glass live could you." Arcturus Black said from behind him, a faint trace of a smile on his thin lips.

"Grandfather, I-"

"Now, now my dear boy calm down. I'm not going to throw a fit as you young ones would say."

Arcturus Black, father of Orion Black was the French Ministries Head of law enforcement and a force to be reckoned with. He was the only man Sirius' father feared and his Auror department was one of the strongest and it was the one where many Ministers aimed to get their Auror's trained under the scrutiny of Arcturus' head Auror Calius Phelps, a man whose passion was being an Auror, a man who made even the bravest of Auror's tremble. Arcturus Black played by the books but when things started getting messy he played dirty. But what Arcturus Black was to Sirius was his favourite family member, he and his wife Melania were one of the few Black's Sirius could tolerate and one of the few who actually listened to him along with his Aunt Lucretia and Grandmother Cassiopeia.

"Now Alyssa tells me you maybe planning something stupid, like running away perhaps." Arcturus said casually.

"I have no idea what that silly girl is going on about." Sirius glared as he watched Alyssa capture his mother's attention and smile. _Why can't she smile at me like that?_

"Well that is good then, we wouldn't want you to mess anything up more than you already have."

"Mess it up, Grandfather if anyone has messed things up it's my parents with their blind attitude to everything that is going on around them." Sirius growled.

"That maybe the case but what you need to understand is that this family prides itself upon its heritage and you are throwing it back in our faces" Arcturus said calmly

"But it's wrong, take Emily for example. Mother let her stay; she made her the family's personal representative and she's a bloody muggle. That goes against everything, yet I mention one little thing about them believing in what Voldemort stands for and I get punished for it"

"For reasons you are more than well aware of, if she was to be sent back out there she would be killed and tortured for information on this family's whereabouts as well as anything else she has learned. She saved your life not once, but twice something your mother has took note of."

Sirius remained quiet at this and looked over to the fireplace where Emily sat talking to his grandmother, her previous black hair was now back to it's natural brown and pulled into a neatly tied pony tail, the robes she wore were ones that were now too big for his mother but they matched her perfectly and she started to look less and less like the muggle she was and this, Sirius hated His mother was changing everything Emily was even though her muggle status wouldn't be changed her appearance could be which was taking away who Emily was.

"Look as much as you dislike how your parents run things, it is for your best interest they only want to keep you safe and alive." Arcturus said softly as he placed his hand on his grandson's shoulder.

"She hates me, ever since I got sorted into Gryffindor she has felt no love for me and showers both Regulas and Alyssa with it. I miss the way she used to smile at me…" Sirius sighed before looking up at his grandfather "I miss her being proud of me."

"Listen to me, your mothers had a tougher upbringing than you did, you forget how Morgainne ran things on her side of the family and it has stayed with the others. The other side of the family is a lot darker and it's all your mother knows, she was brought up on tough love." Arcturus replied

"I know that, but I'm her first born, I'm her heir. I'm the one she suffered agony for when I was stillborn. Yet even as my heart grows weaker she grows further and further away from me, it hurts grandfather."

"But the last check up on you heart showed the all clear Sirius, it showed you were fine."

"I know and it was, it was fine but lately it's been getting tougher to live with. Quidditch is starting to become too much, hell climbing those stairs is gonna end up killing me." Sirius explained as he rubbed at his chest.

"You need to tell your father."

"I need to do no such thing and you; grandfather will keep your mouth shut." Sirius snapped as he glared up at the older man.

Before Arcturus could reply Orion walked over and took his son by the shoulder before steering him towards the other family members. With a nod to his son Arcturus sighed into his hands before leaving the lounge and headed for the kitchen, _tonight will not end well._

"Now Sirius, Cygnus here has suggested you stay with them for the weekend and they will be taking you to the station while your mother and I attend a conference in Germany." Orion informed.

"Are you actually out of your mind?" said Sirius "You want me to stay with them, for two whole days, are you expecting me to be sent in a box or something father"

"We are aware of your opinion on the matter but we have come to an agreement that nothing is to happen to you or there will be consequences." Orion informed.

"But that's bullshit, they won't listen."

"There will be none of that language Sirius," said Walburga.

"Honestly though, do you want rid of me that much to send me to his. Mother do you have any idea what he does."

"You will be going and that is that." Orion intervened.

"No, no I won't. I'll either be killed or beaten black and blue just as soon as your backs are turned."

"Now see here," Druella started but Walburga held up her hand.

"Sirius Black you will do as you are told, if you had any respect left for me or your family you will do this for me."

"Why, so you can finally get rid of your burden of a son." Sirius snapped as he glared up at his mother.

The sound that followed was one nobody expected, not in front of company at least. Walburga stared at her son's figure on the floor as she held her hand. A red mark was slowly appearing on his cheek and blood began to spill from his cut lip that had caught on her ring. There had only been two times Walburga had ever hit her son and both of those she kept for times she felt were very trying and out of the public and the family eye as a Black does not, no matter the reason, hit their own child. The situation had drew the attention of Emily and Melania and the two of them went to head over but Orion held up his hand just as Alyssa reached hers down to help Sirius up, but he slapped it away as he picked himself up of the ground.

"Sirius" Walburga started.

"No mother, you've made your point very clear." Sirius said quietly, his expression calm and collected. "Now I will bid you all goodnight."

With that said Sirius walked casually to the door and headed to his bedroom leaving the party in a stunned silence. Nobody spoke a word as Kreacher cleaned up the mess that had been spilt from the eldest son's glass and nobody could read the expression that had etched itself all over Walburga's face. Her eyes remained empty and her face placid as she rubbed her throbbing hand, her body began to follow after her son but Orion held her back with a slight nod of his head.

"Leave him; we will sort this in the morning it has gone to far Walburga."

"I think it is best we leave don't you Cygnus, our daughters will be wondering where we are?" Druella sneered as she studied Walburga's form. "Honestly Walburga what were you thinking hitting your own son. Merlin knows the boy deserves it but not from his own kin."

"Druella's right, it is time we left." Cygnus said. "My offer still stands Orion."

Orion said nothing but merely placed his hand on his wife's steady shoulder as her gaze continued to stare at the empty door. After a few minutes Cygnus and Druella's form disappeared from the fireplace and Orion's gaze turned sharply to his wife as his expression darkened. Emily recognised the sign and led Melania out of the lounge, Alyssa lingered slightly but Emily grabbed her arm and led her away just as Orion began his descent on his wife.

"Have you gone mad, I have warned you countless times to not raise your hand to the boy; you do not hit him, ever. I don't care what he has done you do not hit our son." Orion shouted

Walburga remained silent her gaze still fixated on the door as her husband's words drifted through one ear and out the other. Through her mind the turn of events played over and over but one thing that would not shift was the look in her son's eyes. He had looked up at her in fear, with a sadness the she knew was because of her. He had been right about what would happened at her brothers house, Cygnus knew how to bend the rules to his whim and make sure he never got caught that was one of the reasons why Bellatrix was the way she was and she was now kicking herself for even thinking that sending him there was a good idea. In her mind she had been able to imagine what was going through her son's mind and realising that her son believed she hated him was something that stirred something deep within her.

"Are you even listening to me Walburga?" Orion asked.

But Walburga didn't reply instead she tore herself from his grip and ran to the stairs calling out Sirius' name with a tone or urgency in her voice. Her footsteps pounded on the stairs as she ran up them in an attempt to get to her son faster. Orion sighed and ran his hand through his hair as he headed towards the kitchen; there he found his parents, Alyssa and Emily sitting quietly at the table. His father, Arcturus wore an unreadable expression one Orion knew was a bad sign. A lump formed in his stomach as he heard Walburga's footsteps echo in the hallway and as her shaking form entered the kitchen and her hand clutched at the door frame. Orion could almost hear her heart breaking into a thousand pieces, and just as the clock chimed midnight she said two words he dreaded to here.

"He's gone."


	16. Of letters and news paper clippings

**The Sorceress and the Grim**

**Chapter sixteen**

**Of letters and news paper clippings**

_You have made a poor choice; you have changed the way your path was meant to go._

_You again, enough of your riddles_

_My dearest grim, you do not see the consequences of your actions but you will._

_I don't care; I don't know who you think you are but just leave me alone._

_You will learn, YOU WILL LEARN_

Sirius yelled as the voice resonated in his head; a face had appeared when the figure in his dream had yelled at him. A face he had only seen in a family portrait, the face of Morgainne le fay nee' Black. His eldest and greatest grandmother that was residing in her home outside Bosnia had not been seen or heard from for many years. He had received letters from her a few times, mainly when things had became too much for him to handle and her letters always brought comfort. Morgainne was the darkest Sorceress in his family and Sirius' mother's side of the family was birthed from her but even though she wrote the book on the Black family values things had changed greatly since her time and not in the way she wanted it to. From her letters Sirius always felt she cared more for him than she did his brother, Regulas seeing as he was the only one who did talk to her. But now to find out it was his grandmother that the dreams were from he now began to think that maybe they were visions. His grandmothers face had not been pleased she had looked upset but sounded angry and why she constantly called him the grim Sirius didn't know, he doubted that she knew about his ability to change into a dog but he never classed his form as the grim even though his friends joked about it.

The disgraced Black heir had been lounging in the back garden of Potter's family home where he had spending his time after escaping his old family home and was soon due to go into his final year at Hogwarts. For his 17th birthday Sirius had received a letter from Morgainne which he held in his hands after forgetting to open it, during the time he had packed some of his belonging before leaving his old family home he had subconsciously picked it up before grabbing his broom and leaving out his bedroom window. Something had told him not open it when it had arrived but his temper at the time and enabled him to just chuck it across the room where it had stayed. He now sat on the porch watching the birds in the small bird pool, running his hands over the letter that had torn slightly around the edges. Shaking his head Sirius tore open the letter and ran his fingers over his grandmothers writing, he had always been amazed at how neat it had been and wished his untidy scrawl could match it.

_My darling grandson,_

_By the time you read this you will far away from your parent's home and far from my protection, by now I believe you would have figured out it was I in your dreams. Don't be alarmed my child I seek only to guide your unsteady feet for I have seen the path you will walk and I fear for you. It is not a pleasant one and ends with your own destruction. An end I most certainly did not want you meet, but through it all you go through a remarkable change that would make your father and myself very proud of you. Do not worry about your mother she will face the consequences of her actions and will come to realize her mistakes in time, by then I hope it will not be too late. _

_However the reason I am writing to you is not only to wish you a happy birthday and for coming of age but to inform you of a few things I think it is time you knew about. Yes I know you are an Animagus, honestly child do you think I'm stupid; I'm a seers for merlins sake. I've seen every path you take, every twist and turn, every right and wrong decision that I cannot tamper with. Yet I hope you will head my words and learn to figure out what to do and what not to do. The first thing I want to inform you off is the family your currently reside with, they're hatred towards Alyssa's family needs to be sorted, they are her only blood family left and James Potters connection to her will play a vital part in her stability, you alone will not be able to handle her downfall. _

_But the main thing I wanted to talk to you about was that there is a traitor your circle, someone who will turn against you at a time you will rely on them the most. Telling you this has already cut my lifespan down and I fear I do not have long left but you my child are important than you can ever imagine. Your role in this life is more vital than merlin himself without you, merlins power is untouchable, without you the stability of the wizarding world will fall to pieces. You may not believe it but you are the grim, the connection between life and death, the gatekeeper of the underworld. You are the one who gives Alyssa the connection to create merlins staff, without it she is powerless. _

_Without you, she will fall into Voldemort's hands and be lost to us forever. If she falls over to the his side you will have no choice but to kill her, she must not fall into his hands or Magic itself will cease to exist. He must not get hold of that power, he must not be able to wield merlins staff. You must protect her, you must be by her side always or she will go down the same road as her mother. My dear boy, you are going to be one of the most important wizards of all time but you are going to face some of the hardest challenges of your life._

_Remember that I am with you always,_

_Morgaine,_

Sirius blinked a few times as he read over his grandmother's letter, _she can't be serious,_ he thought to himself. Everything Morgaine said had to be a mix up, there was no way he was everything she had he was, it just wasn't possible. He could never match up to that not with how much of a failure he was already. Sirius had always struggled to live up to expectations that people had made for him, his mother had expected him to be the perfect Black, sorted into Slytherin and engaged by now. But to live up to expectations his Grandmother had made him panic, it scared him.

"Sirius, are you all-"

"GAH!"

Sirius had been so wrapped up in his thoughts he hadn't heard James open the back door, clutching at his chest Sirius glared up at his friend and tucked the letter away into his pocket. Before standing up and smacking his friend around the back of the head. James only laughed as Sirius stormed inside to where the smell of Mrs Potter's cookies filled the kitchen.

When Sirius had first arrived at the Potter household seven months ago on New Year's Day the smell of cookies had filled the house which covered the smell of damp dog. The snow had been four inches thick and even though Sirius was a big dog the snow still dampened his fur and days later he was bed ridden with the cold. He had initially set out on his broom but there had been gale force winds that night and had he been concentrating he wouldn't of been knocked of and his broom wouldn't have gotten destroyed. So he had charmed his trunk to pocket size and slipped it into his pocket before transforming and heading to his friends. Arriving at his friends door step at six in the morning had been a good idea to start of with but seeing James staring down at him with tired eyes made Sirius re-think everything. But Mr and Mrs Potter had greeted him proudly when they woke up and made sure that he stayed with them when his family came to take him home, but they never did.

"So what where you doing out there?" James asked as he handed Sirius a glass of milk for his cookies.

"I got a letter from Morgaine on my birthday and I only it there now." Sirius confessed as he took out the letter and handed it to him.

"You're kidding right, she's having a laugh." James had said after reading through the letter, his eyes widened at parts Sirius' own had.

"That's the thing with Morgaine James, she doesn't lie. Everything she's said there is truth, as much as I don't want it to be, it is."

"That's a lot to take in, a traitor in our midst. She's having a laugh."

"I don't think she is, Prongs." Sirius said his expression unreadable.

James hadn't said anything he just read over the letter and watched as his friend stared at the table, the brown eyed Potter had always been aware that Sirius would be made for great things, he could just tell. But this was more than what James had initially thought this was more than James thought Sirius could handle. The one part the he didn't like though was where Morgaine had told Sirius to fix things between him and Alyssa, James had never cared for her but after seeing how happy Sirius was with her he had to re-think everything he knew about her. James had always gave Alyssa the cold shoulder but at Christmas Alyssa had sent him a new broom after his previous one refused to get of the ground. His father had tried to get hold of it for him but European trading company for broomsticks wasn't letting them be sold early and how Alyssa had got hold of one James didn't want to know. He had later found out that she had attended Beauxbatons with the company's director's daughter who she had helped get straight O's in her OWL's. Alyssa had used the favour owed to try and repair the damaged relationship between their two families. But it was what Alyssa did for his father that James had been really amazed about. Given the time Alyssa had lived with her father and his new family she had gained valuable information which handed over to Charlus Potter. On Christmas eve a parcel arrived with documents Mr Potter couldn't open until Christmas when he did open them there was documents there labelling Callcus Riva's every move, what the family had been doing, where they could find the missing bodies, who was next to be targeted and where Callcus was going to be. Charlus Potter was front lining the search for Rivas and the documents Alyssa had gave him not only closed the net on Callcus' whereabouts but also enabled them to arrest the rest of his new family on crimes of torture, manslaughter and perverting the course of justice. Alyssa had given enough evidence that when they did finally capture and arrest Callcus Rivas she would need to give evidence and a trial could go on without her, hell James was pretty sure a trial wouldn't even be needed.

"You seem deep in thought my boy." Charlus Potter sounded from the doorway, a bright smile on his face.

"Oh hey dad, what's up?" James said before turning to look up at his dad. "Why are you so happy?"

"We got him?"

Life in Grimmauld place had been very dim since Sirius had left, the task of being the heir had passed to Regulas who wanted nothing to do with it and due to family tradition Alyssa couldn't take on the responsibility due to two reasons, she wasn't a Black and her main connection to the family was her binding to Sirius who had been pretty much written out of the family. The only way she could take over was if both of the Black brothers died which wasn't going to happen, so Regulas was stuck cursing his brother's name. The day had stated out dull and boring for Alyssa as she woke up in Sirius' old bed wearing one of his shirts to the sound of rain banging on the window and Walburga's voice resonating of the walls screaming at them to get up. Sighing to herself to stretched and turned to look at the clock, 11:30, _just five more minutes._

But the tapping on the window wasn't going to allow her to sleep for another second and with a growl she got and opened the window to take the post of her owl. Glaring at the tawny she had labelled Ezra after her mother Alyssa closed the window and looked down at the paper. Within seconds she had pulled on yesterdays jeans, tore open the door and threw herself down the stairs with the paper in hand.

"Is this true?" Alyssa had asked as she chucked the paper onto the table.

"Four things are wrong with this scene," Walburga started. "One that is no way to greet us, two you slept in his bed again, three what on earth are you wearing and four yes it's true."

"I dare say you played a part in this." Orion said as he sipped his coffee, "You gave Charlus the information he needed to find him."

"Only to make up for my past mistakes, I didn't think they'd actually get him." Alyssa said as she pointed to the papers head line.

**Callcus Rivas finally arrested**

_Thirteen years ago the death of Ezra Rivas, merlins infamous heir shocked the world. She had taken her position as Sorceress with pride and did her duty to the Wizarding world. But along with Ezra Rivas was the body of Amelia Potter, sister to head Auror Charlus Potter. Callcus Rivas is wanted by five different countries and four US states for crimes of murder, disfigurement, torture and kidnapping as well as plotting to kill and destroy a noble house._

_In the early house of Tuesday morning the ministries team of Auror's closed in on Callcus' location in a run down Spanish mill of the Spanish boarder given to them by an unknown source and with hours of fighting the mass murderer was captured and held within a holding cell within the ministry with his powers binded waiting on his on-coming trial. Sources claim that it was his own daughter that supplied Charlus Potter with the documents needed to find Riva's but lately that is yet to be proven. The family that Callcus Rivas had also began, also faces the same charges. Rivas' new wife Amber Montague and her daughters Francesca and Delilah also face jail for crimes of torture, abuse and neglect as well as murder and perverting the course of justice. _

_Rivas and his family will face trial later this week but a source from the ministry state that they have enough evidence to send Rivas straight to the Dementor's kiss and the rest fo the family staright to Azkaban._

"I hope he rots." Alyssa growled as she chucked the paper into the bin.

"He will, the family will make sure of it." Walburga said, "Now go get changed, I do not want to see you dressed like this again."

She really couldn't believe her luck; her scum of a father and family had finally been arrested and would face trials for their crimes. She had always warned them she would get them back and even though she didn't want to be there went they were sentenced to whatever punishment the court served she knew they would know she was the one who made it possible. When she has arrived back in London she had Emily help her put together everything she knew to help use as evidence as a way to repay the Potter family and all the others she felt she had let down. It took years to get everything together but after she had done so she had charmed and sent to Charlus as a gift and a peace treaty. She was sick of all the feuds her family were in, life was too short for them and she tried her best to not hold a grudge. In her heart she felt she had one the right thing yet deep down she felt this lump in her stomach that something was yet to go very, very wrong.


	17. The final nail in the coffin

**The Sorceress and the grim**

**Chapter seventeen**

**The final nail in the coffin**

The trial had gone as successful as possible; Callcus Rivas now sat without a soul surrounded by Azkaban's walls with his murderous family two floors below him. They had been the ones that caused the most problems they had kicked and screamed on the way to Azkaban and even in the court room they continued to cause problems by talking over the judge and anyone else who talked, but nobody would listen, the evidence said it all. But Rivas had stayed quiet after learning his daughter wasn't going to be there, Orion Black had said to him after the trial that if she had been there he believed he could have used her to get out of his crimes, just like he had beforehand. He believed that was the only explanation as to why she allowed her father to walk away from his crimes. But now, he was never going to see the light of day again and Charlus Potter couldn't be happier. The family had celebrated but one person chose not to take part which was one thing Charlus didn't think was something Sirius would usually do.

Sirius had attended the trial, he had stared right into the eyes of the man that had haunted his nightmares as a child and now he stared back at him as man. Sirius gave his own side of the story as well which helped lock the man up and even during it Callcus had scoffed only to have Sirius smirk back at him and carry on talking. As Callcus had been dragged of to face the Dementor's kiss Charlus had watched as Sirius caught his family's eye. His mother, as predicted, glared at him and dragged his brother out of the court room, Emily had came over and greeted them with her usual happy go lucky attitude but Orion, he had lingered and studied his son while Sirius crumbled beneath his gaze. Orion hadn't looked angry or upset but merely intrigued and after a slight nod to the Potter's he had taken his leave and followed after his wife and son.

Now as the Potter family celebrated Sirius sat staring out the window with a glass of water in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Charlus had told him multiple times to not smoke in the house but this time he'd let it slide as right now he was more concerned on finding out what was wrong with the boy he classed as a second son.

"Dorea will go mad if she's ash all over her carpet." Charlus smiled as he sat beside the boy.

"Sorry, I keep forgetting." Sirius said dully as he made to put the cigarette out.

"Just today, afterwards I don't want to see it." Charlus said "You should be happy, what's wrong?"

"I thought…Well I had hoped…They didn't seem the slightest bit bothered." Sirius said finally. "I ran away and they acted exactly like they did before hand. Mother with her usual glare, Emily with her much too happy attitude and father…Father with his staring."

"They do care about you; I know they do just give it time you'll see."

"I don't think I have enough time to wait for them, I have better things to do with my life than wait around for them." Sirius grumbled something Charlus didn't hear as he put his cigarette out and dumped it in his glass of water.

"Look come join the fun, merlin knows somebody is going to have to peal James of the ceiling," Charlus laughed as he patted Sirius on the shoulder.

Sirius smiled in return but continued to look out the window, he was glad Charlus couldn't see his reflection because even he didn't want to see it. The images that danced across the glass were not what went on outside. He didn't see his own face staring back at him but his Animagus' form; the dark grey eyes staring into his own while the black fur covered ears tilted back to listen to something behind him. But what caught him by surprise the most was the fire that danced on the glass, it looked like the world outside was on fire yet it was a fine summers day outside. Watching the fire dance on the glass and his Animagus form stare back at him Sirius shook him to his very core and his thoughts drifted back to his grandmothers letter.

The final days of summer passed by very quickly and the journey back to Hogwarts was an easy one even with the screaming and shouting Alyssa had sent his way. He had meant to write to her but he had a feeling the post would have passed his parents first before it got to her. He had been wrong from what she had said and now he regretted not contacting her to let her know he was okay. The first thing she had done was slap him right across the face when she found him in his usual compartment with James, Remus and Peter before giving him a right earful about how she'd been worried sick by not knowing where he was or what had happened. He had reminded her of course that he had told her he was going to the Potter's and that only earned him a slap across the arm. After the yelling had stopped she glared at him before hugging him and then proceeded to kiss him before scarpering out of the compartment to join her friends. Sirius had stood their dazed before James had laughed and sat him down with a pumpkin pastry in hand.

"I've never seen you look so bewildered, Padfoot." Remus said happily.

"I think the worlds gone mad." Peter laughed.

"Mad, the worlds gone absolutely bat shit crazy Wormtail." James roared as he whacked Sirius on the back and joined Peter in his laughing fit.

"Why not go after her?" Remus asked, _that snapped him out of it._

"Go after her, are you mad moony? God knows what I'll do that girl is stark raving mad." Sirius practically yelled causing James and Peter to laugh even harder.

"I think she likes you." Remus smiled

"Mad, absolutely mad." Sirius mumbled, ignoring what Remus had said.

The rest of the journey to Hogwarts had been spent with Sirius staring at the compartment door, Remus reading his new book and James and Peter playing exploding snap. Before they knew it the train had stopped and the students started pilling of and onto Hogsmeade station. Then they were into the carriages and heading towards the school but it was as they got to the school did Sirius snap out of his daze and notice the gaping hole in the Quidditch stands.

"Gale force winds caused the stands to collapse; first matches are on hold until they fix it. Gryffindor play Ravenclaw first but it's not until after Halloween now." James informed.

"Crap, I forgot. Its times like this I'm glad Alyssa is Ravenclaw's seeker and not beater, she'll beat me to death with that bludger." Sirius laughed.

"I dare say she's more interested in other things." James joked earning himself a whack from his friend.

Dinner came and went and the marauders found themselves up in the dormitory talking about how James had reacted when he received his head boy badge. Sirius could barely talk with how much he was laughing to which James didn't find funny and chucked his pillow at his friend only for Sirius to chuck it back.

"So what did your parents say?" Remus asked.

"Naturally they were very proud of me." James replied smugly.

"I think they were more proud of the fact you weren't a lost cause mate." Sirius laughed.

"You know I think I hear Alyssa serenading you from outside." James retorted.

"Dude, really. Alyssa can't even sing." Sirius said. "Well she can…Kinda. Anyway she's more likely to avoid me and pretend it never happened which is fine with me."

"Whatever Pad's, anyway do you know who the head girl is." James asked

"Lily." Remus said quietly praying James didn't hear him.

"Sorry, did you just say Lily Evans is head girl."

"No, all I said was her name." Remus retorted.

They had expected the Gryffindor chaser to start going on about the infamous red head but instead he had just sat down on his bed and played with the snitch he had gotten for Christmas from his mother. The three other friends exchanged glances before smirking and jumping on the unsuspecting boy. The shouts and yells from the four boys could be heard all the way to McGonagall's chambers which had caused her to come up and order them to go to bed and to bed they went.

The days went by and Sirius had been right about Alyssa avoiding him following what had happened on the train but now as they piled into Potions class Sirius made sure to talk to Professor Slughorn about partnering with the Ravenclaw to which he happily agreed and set the class up into different partners. What made it that even more sweeter was that Slughorn had paired James with Lily and from his seat near the two Gryffindor's he could hear Lily criticizing everything he did only for James to go along with it by keeping his head down and actually doing his work.

"You made Slughorn partner us up didn't you?" Alyssa said quietly as she crushed a bezoar in the mortar.

"May have done." Sirius said as he made sure Alyssa did the potion right.

A Ravenclaw she was but absolutely nobody wanted to partner with her in potions and not for the reason any one might think but simply for the fact that she was rubbish at potions and no matter what she did every she always managed to blow up her cauldron every time. As well as Snape Sirius was a genius at potion making and it was also another one of the reason why he wanted to partner with her, to help her break her streak as the worst potion maker of the school.

"Is this right?" Alyssa asked as she showed Sirius the crushed bezoar.

"Yeah, now add four pinches of it to the cauldron." Sirius informed. "I swear if you manage to do this I'm buying you dinner."

"If I manage to do this Black I'll tell you why I kissed you on the train."

Sirius hadn't been expecting that, he was waiting for the right opportunity to ask her but he hadn't expected Alyssa to bring it up first. He had noticed the little blush on her cheeks when she said and as he watched her add two pinches of standard ingredient to the potion while he turned up the heat for five seconds Sirius could almost feel his failing heart flutter with excitement.

"So now what, do we wait."

"Yeah, we wait half an hour. So why did you kiss me?" Sirius asked.

"Honestly, I don't really know. I was so mad at you for just vanishing like that and not telling me where you were and making me panic and-"

"Calm down, your rambling." Sirius said laughing softly.

"Sorry, I just, I really don't know. I was mad at you but it was a whole "I'm mad at you but I'm so glad your okay" type of moment." Alyssa said as she cleaned up the mess.

"So you meant nothing by it"

"Of course not, come on Sirius with this binding and everything I really don't want anything happening yet. In all honesty I kinda don't want this binding any more." Alyssa informed.

"It's funny you should say that cause neither do I, its pretty much just keeping us tied and I really don't wanna be tied to one girl as of yet." Sirius smirked.

"Your funny," Alyssa glared, "Is it time yet."

"Yeah, add a pinch of unicorn horn then stir TWO time clockwise." Sirius watched carefully as Alyssa had to figure out which way was clockwise. "Right, now that you finally shown me why you shouldn't be a Ravenclaw add two mistletoe berries and stir two times ANTI-CLOCKWISE."

"You're not funny, like honestly you really think-"

"ALY THE HEAT." Sirius yelled.

But it was too late, Alyssa had forgotten to turn the heat off and just as she waved her waned over the potion it went green and gave a small shake as a warning to duck. The warning came too late and Sirius had enough time to bury his face in his hands and drag her to the ground as the cauldron exploded.

"Ten points from Ravenclaw." Professor Slughorn informed causing the Ravenclaw's to grumble and glare in Alyssa direction.

"Damnit, we just lost our ten point lead on Slytherin." One Ravenclaw said.

"How is she even in this house?"

"How did she even pass her OWL's?"

"Alright, that's enough settle down." Slughorn informed "What happened you two?"

"She didn't turn the heat off." Sirius informed.

"Hey, you were making this potion as well, so it's partially your fault." Alyssa snapped to which Sirius just shrugged.

"Just get this cleaned up and then you two can go" Slughorn said before going to check over on a smirking Snape's potion.

"I don't get it, everything was perfect, and I checked the heat."

"I'm jinxed, Sirius, just forget it. I'm jinxed there is no way I am going to pass my NEWT's" Alyssa said sadly as she waved her wand over the mess.

"Oh no, I'm going to make it my mission to make sure you do. This will not do there is no way in hell you leave this school as the worst potion maker of the school." Sirius promised.

And he kept to his promise, twice a week Sirius went over potions with her after gaining permission from Slughorn to use his classroom to which the professor agreed as long as he was in the room to watch the progress. Everything continued as predicted, five cauldrons got destroyed and Sirius promised Slughorn he'd buy new ones but it was the sixth cauldron that managed to stay in tact and the potion just over flowed. Sirius classed this as progress and allowed his friend to do her happy dance which was just a series of jumping around like an idiot, flapping her arms.

By the time the tenth potion came it was the Halloween break to which they had chosen to spend at the school and Sirius' two week detentions from Filch had to put her tutoring on hold. Sirius had told Alyssa that he hadn't meant to turn the staircase into a slide but merely cover it in ice so it was all ready for Christmas. The Ravenclaw was only glad she had the other staircase to go down as turning the staircase back to normal took a good few days which created a few accidents with a few Gryffindor second years. When Sirius had asked why Alyssa was spending the holidays here she had told him that it was Bellatrix's engagement party and said nothing else.

So Alyssa spent Halloween with her house's Quidditch team preparing for the on coming match but it was after she was returning from training did she bump into a furious Sirius who ranted and raved at her for not watching where she was going. It was a good few minutes before Sirius calmed down and when he did; she regretted hearing what it was he had to say.

"I told Snape how to get into the willow."

Alyssa had made sure Sirius went and told James while she headed to the willow, her wolf Animagus form she had gained at Beauxbatons enabled her to figure out Lupin's secret a few years ago after she told him she could smell it off him. She had joined the four of them once or twice on their escapades but most of the time she left them to it and only used her Animagus form in emergencies, and this was emergency.

"Deciding to join us this time?" Remus asked with a smile as Alyssa came through the door.

"Snape knows." Was all she said as Remus' smile vanished from his face before doubling over in pain?

"You WHAT" James yelled as he took in what Sirius said.

"I didn't mean to, he already had the rest of it figured out but I was just so mad"

"You're an absolute idiot, you know that right." James interrupted as he grabbed his cloak and pulled on his trainers before darting towards the willow to stop Snape.

Sirius didn't go after him instead he sat on his bed and put his head in his hands praying everything worked out okay, he couldn't be more wrong as come morning Dumbledore summoned him, James, Snape and Alyssa to his office. _If I survive this, I'm fixing things with my parents, _Sirius had thought to himself as he sat down beside Alyssa who squeezed his hand. Remus was still in the hospital wing and James refused to look at him, Alyssa looked tired and had a scar on her face which she told him would heal over but the one on her back and leg wouldn't.

"Now who wants to tell me what actually happened last night?" Dumbledore asked calmly.

"Black tried to have me killed; he's just like his family, the murdering scum." Snape raged.

"Now Severus I'm sure it wasn't intentional, was it Sirius" Dumbledore said.

"No sir, I didn't intend for it to play out this way. I didn't intend for anyone to get hurt." Sirius said as he bravely looked up at Dumbledore.

"Yet you still couldn't help but spill Moony's secret." James mumbled which caused Sirius to look down at his feet.

"Sir if I may." Alyssa asked and Dumbledore nodded. "I came back from practice to find Sirius in a really bad mood and I know how his temper can be when he's been pissed off. He told me how Snape had pushed all his buttons by going on about things Snape had no idea about. Sirius had warned him multiple times to stay out of it but still Snape kept poking his nose in it, trying to find out what Remus' big secret was."

"That's not true, I only saw him leave this once." Snape defended. "They've been plotting against me from the start, you see how they treat me headmaster, and they're constantly targeting me this was a giant plan set to get rid of me for good."

"That's enough Severus, Mr Potter why don't you tell me your side?" Dumbledore asked.

"Sirius came up to me and told me what he'd done so I went down to stop Snape. We've known about Remus' secret since second year and it doesn't bother us he's out friend. I managed to pull Snape back but he still saw Moony, sorry I mean Remus." James informed.

"Very well, I will talk to Mr Lupin when he has awoken for now Mr Black, Mr Potter you are to return to your dormitories. Mr Black you are not to leave the Gryffindor tower without a teacher present and after every meal and class you will be escorted up here to my office where you will fulfil a task I or another teacher has had set out for you. Mr Snape, you are not to repeat what you have learned to anybody and I mean anybody, doing so will spell expulsion for both you and Mr Lupin. Miss Rivas, given the fact you and Mr Black have a close relationship and he is your current potion tutor your sessions will now be cancelled and I will have Professor Slughorn offer you extra help. Now back to your common rooms, Mr Potter make sure Mr Black gets there, oh and Sirius I will be writing to your parents and after I talk to Mr Lupin we will find out then whether or not we will keep you in this school."

With that being said Dumbledore dismissed them and Snape was the first one to storm out, un-happy with the result. Sirius lingered back to talk to Alyssa but James was having none of it and dragged him back up to the Gryffindor tower where he rounded on the sombre boy with a furious expression on his face.

"Have you actually lost your mind, what in the hell where you thinking?" James roared.

"I told you, you know how Snape gets you can't say he doesn't deserve it but I didn't meant for it to go like that." Sirius said quietly.

"Deserve it, Sirius you almost got him killed you think Snape deserves to die just for poking his nose in things that don't concern him, Black that's just taking the piss."

"James, mate-"

"I am not your mate, not now, not after this. Remus nearly got thrown out because of you, when he gets out of the hospital wing you can tell him what happened. No doubt Dumbledore will inform him but he'll want to hear it from you."

"Come on, you can't just turn your back on me. You have no idea what he was like, what he was saying if you knew what he had said you'd understand." Sirius defended a hint of vulnerability in his voice.

"I don't care, Snape's right." James growled. "You're just like them, just like your family."

Sirius stared at James' retreating form as the reality of losing his best friend kicked in he hadn't thought of how Remus was going to react and that scared him even more. He was thankful that the common room was empty and as he sat down in one the chairs hidden away in the corner Sirius buried his head in his hands until he heard the portrait door open again and saw Remus walk in.

"Don't." Remus said as he saw Sirius get up to greet him "Just don't, stay away from me. Just….stay away…"

"Remus please, you need to listen."

"No Sirius, I don't need to listen to you, your lucky I didn't have Dumbledore expel you. You're lucky your punishment is what he's already given you so just stay away from me, just stay away." Remus growled before turning to head up the stairs leaving Sirius to crumble back into his chair.


	18. The old french tale

**The Sorceress and the grim**

**Chapter 18**

**The old French tale**

"I can't believe how idiotic he could be." James ranted as he took a seat beside Remus in the library

It had been a few weeks since Snape found out what Remus was and so far the Slytherin had behaved himself but what bothered him the most was that they hadn't seen Sirius in the Gryffindor tower since he had told him to stay away. On the map the four of them had of Hogwarts, the one they deemed the Marauder map, Remus had noticed that Sirius only appeared during classes and after that he just disappeared. He had checked the room of requirement given that it didn't show up on the map but nobody had been there and Remus was starting to get worried. The last time the werewolf had seen Sirius was in charms class this morning when he had came in with Alyssa and Remus hadn't liked the state Sirius was in. The disgraced Black heir looked thinner than what he had originally been, untouched stubble had been a constant appearance and his usual sparkling grey eyes were not downcast and empty. He had heard that Sirius had stuck to his punishment but what he hadn't heard was the initial attack the Black boy had faced on his own. A few days ago Remus had been in the hospital wing for a check up and he had seen Alyssa talking to someone, Remus had asked Madam Pomfrey what was going on and she had simply told him Sirius had been jumped by a few Slytherin's, he also found out Sirius didn't bother to defend himself and now suffered from a few broken ribs and wrist.

"Moony are you even listening to me" James grumbled as he slammed his transfiguration book down.

"Maybe we should look for him, nobody has seen him in a few days and I'm getting a little worried. You seen the state of him, you heard what happened." Remus whispered.

"After what he did, I hope he rots. You can't honestly be thinking about forgiving him."

"No, I know what he did was wrong but even Alyssa doesn't know where he goes after classes."

"Who cares?" James growled

"I CARE." Remus shouted and a few other students turned to stare at him as Madam Pinch glared at him.

"Moony is right James, we all know how Sirius can be. There are rumours he has to go back to Grimmauld every night via the floo and be back first thing in the morning." Peter whispered.

"And you'd be wrong." A voice sounded behind them

The three boys turned round to see Alyssa standing there with a few books in her arms and her green eyes staring hard at them. Her brown hair was pulled up into a bun that showed of the paw print studs she had in her ears. Her wand was tucked into her hair but it was the ring on her finger that caught James' eye.

"You're wearing your binding ring again." James said

"Yeah and what of it, look your wrong about Sirius. He doesn't go back to Grimmauld his family doesn't want him there, he stays in Hogsmeade, away from the castle." Alyssa informed.

"Hopefully he'll find some cliff to jump off."

"Potter you can be a right dick you know that, he misses you and kicks himself every day. He's drowning himself in whiskey and dealing with his hangovers the following morning before classes is not an easy task"

"Alyssa, hurry up will you." Julie called from across the room earning herself a sharp glare from the librarian.

"Yeah hold on. Look I know what he did was wrong but you really need to hear him out." Alyssa closed her eyes for a second before shifting the books in her arms and looking at the three boys again. "Before he does anything stupid and end his life like Potter here wants him to."

With that said the Ravenclaw seeker headed over to her friends leaving the three boys to think about what she'd said. Peter had been the first to squeak at the thought of Sirius taking his own life; he had always looked up to him and admired the way he handles everything that was thrown at him. Sirius had been a great help in helping Peter with his potions and his Animagus. It was also thanks to Sirius that Peter was with his now steady girlfriend Amanda Waterstone. But it was the conversation he had over heard from Snape and Mc' Nair when Snape had laughed at how Sirius had snapped when he joked about how the world would deal with half breeds and how it had been the Slytherin who had informed Sirius parents of his friendship with the werewolf and it had also been him who had kept warning Alyssa away from Sirius through his friendship with Lily Evans. He had also bragged about how it was the Slytherin that slept with the Ravenclaw and how he had known along that she was as murderous and down trodden as her family. But it was what Snape had said about Peter and James that made Sirius snap, the Slytherin had hinted that he had joined the dark lords side and that Peters and James' families would be the first ones to be wiped out given how tainted and weak they were, whereas Remus would be used as a plaything for Voldemort's own werewolf Fenrir Greyback.

"I think maybe we should hear him out." Peter pleaded.

"James come on, it's been three weeks and it's not like Sirius to blurt something like out. Something must have pissed him off enough to make him put Snape's life in danger, you know him better than any of us." Remus added.

"Look, I don't care alright he blew his chance." James growled as he put his head in his hands. "…But your right, something must have made him snap…And…I'll help you find him but I'm not talking to him."

Remus didn't care how defiant James was he was going to fix this mess; he needed his brothers around him if he was ever going to survive as a werewolf in a world that hated half breeds. Packing up his books Remus tore out of the library with Peter and James trailing behind him before heading down into Hogsmeade. Hopefully he could have this all fixed before the Quidditch match next week, they couldn't risk loosing the Quidditch cup.

_The fate of the wizarding world lies in your hands._

_But what if I can't control it, what if I can't match up to what it is you want me to be._

_You already have my dear, dear grim._

_But they hate me, they all hate me._

_They are not the ones you need to be concerned about; they are merely puppets in the theatre of life._

_But they're me friends._

_Who turned they're back on you at the first chance they got._

Sirius Black lay in his Animagus form watching the world go by below him, high up the cliff he sat he could see Hogwarts in the distance and he could just make out the Ravenclaw tower where he knew Alyssa was and from what she had told him she stared out the window of her dorm and watched the cliff she knew he was on. He had told her he was staying at an inn but in truth he was staying in the cave next to him, he couldn't stay in that school not with how everyone seen him as some sort of murderer. The teachers looked down at him and he couldn't stand to see the look of shame in Dumbledore's eyes, he hated hearing people talk about him behind his back and he hated how his now ex friends avoided him and how he had been targeted in James last prank. It had taken him days to get the slime out of his hair and his eyes still burned from it. Alyssa had walked down to the Hogwarts gate where she had hugged in a hold he didn't want to escape from, he had clung to her form and taken in the sweet smelling cashmere and strawberries that clung to her skin. She had handed him back the binding ring he had sent in his reply to her letter three years ago and now even in his dog form he could feel it on his finger and see the hint of silver on his paw. Shaking his fur Sirius sighed as he shifted back and took a large gulp from the bottle of whiskey by his side.

"To hell with them, to hell with all of them." Sirius growled as he chucked the empty bottle of the cliff.

In the back of his mind Morgaine's voice continued to linger and he could almost feel the sweet caress of her hand over his back. Dumbledore had written to his parents and surprisingly Morgaine had been there when it arrived and when Sirius had been expecting a reply from his parents he got a letter from his grandmother instead. The disgraced Black didn't know why Morgaine had been at Grimmauld as she barely left the safety of her own home but all he cared about was the security in her words. She had told him a bit more of how she was able to contact him with how he was the thing she called the grim, the gatekeeper of the underworld. Through her dark magic she was able to stay in touch and make sure he was okay by not physically being here.

"_No matter what happens, or what anybody says this family will be by your side and I will personally make sure of that."_

It was that sentence that kept repeating itself in his head over and over again, but even then it couldn't take away the guilt that was eating away at him. He hated who he had become he wanted his parents to be proud of him; he wanted his friends to be proud of him not ashamed, for once he wanted to do something right and for once he would. His mother had long ago said to him that he wished had never been born even as she had pretended that had never been said those words had haunted Sirius' mind constantly and maybe this time she would finally be proud of him, maybe now the Slytherin's could finally stop picking on Regulas for his brothers mistakes and leave him alone. Snape had revelled at the way Sirius had snapped when the Slytherin had told him how Regulas had really broken his arm with some help from Mc' Nair. It was that comment that made Sirius snap and he had lunged at the Slytherin and tackled him to the ground growling that if he really wanted to find out what Remus was up to then he should go to the wimping willow and press the knot to find out. Sirius had got off him and stood on his arm as he headed back to the Gryffindor tower.

"Stupid, bloody Slytherin's, thinking they're all high and mighty." By now Sirius stood wobbly at the edge of the cliff. "If only they knew, If only Morgaine knew then they'd see, then they'd be sorry."

Below him three boys were walking up the street heading to the back of Hogsmeade to check one final inn on their search for their friend but it was when a bottle crashed on the ground in front of them did Remus look up and see a familiar figure standing at the edge of the cliff. Cursing to himself Remus ran to get his friend in time behind him he could see James kicking and cursing at the ground, Peter had transformed and his rat form was now climbing the cliff with an agility Remus didn't know Peter had. Remus prayed one of the got to their friend in time as he could here his friends rants getting louder and more incoherent but it was when he heard rocks starting to fall did Remus stop and look up just in time to see Sirius loose his balance and fall over the edge. But before Remus could do anything another figure had swooped in and grabbed Sirius' falling form onto their broom and headed down towards the ground. The werewolf could have breathed a bigger sigh of relief as James clung to Sirius' shaking form. The cold autumn wind cut through Sirius jacketless skin and his dull grey eyes stared widely around him as he took in what had happened.

"Are you fucking mad?" James was shouting as Sirius sat on the ground, shaking. "Have you finally lost the fucking plot?"

"James, don't" Remus warned.

"No, it's about time he learned to take responsibility for his actions. He doesn't get out of this, not that easy. He does not try to kill himself and think he can get away with it."

"SINCE WHEN HAVE YOU CARED, AS IF YOU HAVE EVER CARED?" Sirius had suddenly shouted causing James to snap his mouth shut.

"Sirius, James is right what were you thinking?" Peter asked as he joined the group. "You can't leave us like that."

"Again, why would you care? What is the actual point of this meeting when you all think I'm the biggest fuck up in the entire world?" Sirius raged.

"That's not entirely true; I think I can give you a run for your money with that." James mumbled.

"Just go away and leave me alone." Sirius said as he picked himself up of the ground only for him to lose his balance and crash into Remus, who held him up.

"Easy Pads, we're taking you back to school, we're going to fix this and we're not going anywhere." Remus said softly.

"But why, I sold you out, I put you in danger." Sirius mumbled.

"Yes but something would have made you snap, Sirius it isn't like you to just give something like away. Snape must have said something to make you mad enough to want to hurt him."

"I heard Mc' Nair and Snape saying something about how the world and the Dark lords army is going to treat us after we leave school, I heard them say how Snape slept with Alyssa." Peter mumbled as he tried his best not to look Sirius in the eyes.

"You're half right Pete." Sirius said softly. "But Aly didn't give into him; he tried it on with her only for him to turn him away. He was lying about some of the things he said."

"Look we'll continue this later, right now you are freezing and I can't have you getting Pneumonia, where are your things and we'll take you back to school." Remus asked.

"Sirius didn't say anything; instead he bowed his head and pointed to the cliff before changing into Padfoot and lying on the ground. James was the first to figure it out and realised that Sirius had been staying up on the cliff rather than in the inn he had said he was. Running his hands over his face James hoped onto his broom and flew up to the top of the cliff only to be greeted with the sight of various empty alcohol bottles, sighing himself James made his way over to the cave and found a bunch of leaves and a few empty packets of James prayed weren't pills.

"Where the hell is your stuff?" James mumbled to his stuff as he picked up one of the empty packets. "Granddad takes these for his heart"

It was then James began to piece things together, the Quidditch practices Sirius couldn't attend, the breathlessness, the missed classes and trips to madam Pomfrey, the way James' mom worried about him when Sirius did too much at once. James only just began to realise that the problems Sirius had with his heart was not fixed and these tablets signalled that it was as bad as it could be. Kicking himself James erased the mess of the cave and made his back to his friends only to find Remus sat on the ground with the black dog and Peter in his rat form getting rid of all the bugs in Sirius' fur. It only took James to hold up one packet of tablets for heart problems and a whine from Sirius for the others to understand.

"Alyssa will you please get away from the window, I am not dragging your ass back in if you fall out again." AJ said.

"Sorry, it's just Sirius normally sends me an owl or something by now to let me know how he is and it's been about two hours now since those three headed out to Hogsmeade."

"They're probably fixing things and it'll be about time too, I'm sick of seeing Black mope around." Lucy grumbled.

"Only because you have this mad crush on him" Julie laughed before realising her mistake.

"You're going after him, after what I told you." Alyssa growled.

"No, no it's not like that. I just fancy him; I'm not asking him out on a date or anything." Lucy exclaimed. "Alyssa, I respect you to much too just go behind your back like that, I know how much you still care about him."

"Good, because then I'd really have to hurt you if you did. " Alyssa grinned.

"Still think you should tell him." AJ suggested as sat down on her bed.

"Oh no, that's a line we are definitely not crossing, Sirius is over me and I'll get over him."

"But you love him." Julie said.

"Doesn't matter, we can never be together anyway, that's not how the story goes."

Alyssa had told them of a story she had been told in France about the Sorceress and the grim, the tale of two lovers who destined to live their lives apart. Who were destined to protect the world they lived in and by being together they were succumbed to the curse of knowing when the other was going to die and not be able to intervene, for if they did then even in death they would be forever apart. AJ had cried at how tragic it was and how it was just like the muggle story, Romeo and Juliet, Lucy had constantly said that it was highly unlikely the story was about her and Sirius but Julie had reminded her that Alyssa was the only Sorceress left only for Alyssa to remind them that another Sorceress called Morgaine was still alive.

"I still can't believe Morgaine is still alive though." AJ gasped her eyes rounding in amazement. "I loved reading about her and Morgana."

"There are rumours that Morgana is still alive as well." Lucy informed.

"If she was alive then Morgaine would know but I honestly believe that Voldemort, oh cut it out, I believe Voldemort isn't the biggest threat we have to worry about." Alyssa said as she frowned at how they shivered at hearing the dark lords name.

"Just because the French tale says that they face a power known has ever seen doesn't mean it's not he who must not be named." Julie said.

"But his power has been seen, every one knows what it is he wants. I'm positive it's about somebody else who the world isn't prepared for, I honestly think the dark lord is just the beginning." said Alyssa.

Nobody said anything, Julie continued on with taking the knots out of Lucy's hair while AJ finished of her Charms essay, Alyssa headed back to the windowsill where she saw the familiar shapes of James, Remus and Peter with what looked like a big black dog. _It couldn't be…Could it?_


	19. Defying the fates

**The sorceress and the grim**

**Chapter nineteen**

**Defying the fates**

_Remember, remember, oh god please remember_

_Where are you?_

_Remember, remember me_

_Tell me where you are?_

_Please don't forget me, just remember, remember them, and remember us._

"GAH!"

"Take it easy Padfoot."

Sirius relaxed at the sound of Remus' voice and the feel of a damp cloth on his skin, his dream had been different this time. It had been dark and he had been so cold and the voice hadn't been his grandmothers but somebody entirely different, he had been in some sort of small room with a single window and he couldn't shift the feeling of emptiness and when Remus placed his hand on Sirius shoulder he nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Calm down, it was just a dream okay it's not real." Remus soothed.

"It didn't feel like a dream, it felt real."

"Look the others will be back soon, do you want to talk?"

Sirius didn't reply instead he took in his surrounding and found he was in his 7th year dormitory and in his own bed. He felt warmer and found it hard to remember what had happened due to the pounding of his head and the ringing in his ears. Normally he was in Alyssa bed in the Ravenclaw tower when she would sneak him up after meeting him at the gate. He always made sure to apologise to her for making her deal with his hangovers he knew how much she hated it but he trusted her more than anything but right now he didn't know what to think and his walls went up when he realised he was in his pyjamas and not his dirty school uniform.

"You undressed me?" Sirius asked.

"We bathed you as well." Remus explained. "Sirius you were a mess and your lucky I haven't called McGonagall or Alyssa up here."

"Don't tell Aly, please she can't know."

"What that you were staying in a cave, Sirius, are you mad?"

"Where else was there, I can't afford staying anywhere else and I most certainly wasn't welcomed here and I most certainly was not staying in the room of requirement."

"What happened to you?" Remus asked.

"It's too much, too much pressure to be someone I'm not." Sirius replied as he buried himself under his blankets.

"What are the pills for; you said your heart was fine."

"It was, I don't know what changed but it started getting worse before I left home. I thought the stress of home was the cause of it but now it's getting worse." Sirius explained as he rubbed at his chest.

"Have you talked to Poppy about it; maybe say to your mom or someone." Remus enquired.

"Poppy got me these pills to take, if these don't work I have to get a transplant by then she thinks my heart will already give out. She's trying to arrange a healer to come see me about it as I don't want my family knowing, not that they would care, I just don't want to deal with them right now."

"Will you tell me what happened, why you snapped?"

"I'd rather not." Sirius mumbled before turning to look at him. "But when the others get here then I will."

While Sirius rested and waited for his friends to return Walburga Black was pacing the halls of her own home trying to figure out the purpose of Morgaine's visit. After she had received Dumbledore's letter Walburga had been furious to find out what had happened but was surprised to find her son was not being expelled or even suspended the task he had put in the hands of a half breed. But as she had been finishing up her reply Morgaine had appeared within the fireplace and ordered her to put down her quill.

Morgaine was as old as they came with Dumbledore pulling a close second but given her age Morgaine still held the elegance of Black even as she gave up finding ways to retain her looks. She had aged gracefully but a wound she earned many years ago made walking a trouble and she depended on the staff she had made from her wand. Her grey hair always fell in soft curls cascading down her back. Her greys still held the youth and wisdom she had gained throughout her years but it was the wrinkles on her face and the way that she walked that gave her age away. Walburga had never feared anyone in her life and her father Pollux had been someone many feared. But when Morgaine showed up with a thunderous look on her face Walburga couldn't help but fear that something was seriously wrong.

"Walburga, where are you?" Orion called. "Ah there you are, I have news."

"This better be good I am in no mood of any more bad news."

"Sirius accepted his binding ring back, Regulas has spotted it on his finger and Alyssa has begun wearing hers again as well."

"So Morgaine was right, they will end up together." Walburga mused.

"Had I of known it would run this course I would not have entertained the idea." Orion assured.

"Alyssa would have been amongst the dead, no this is good, we can work with this." Walburga sat down and ran her hand over the letter she had written a thousand times. "That is, If he can forgive me for my actions."

"But if what she has said comes true, Walburga I cannot have my son go through something that terrible just for him to awaken his true power."

"But maybe, this is for the best. If he remains in this family and the dark lord finds out what Sirius is to become he will use it for his own gain. No, Orion we must keep Sirius away, to protect him, to keep him alive we have to disown him."

"Snape really said that." Peter mused. "He honestly thinks he's better than all of us."

"I don't know what goes through his head, but my parents may have defied Voldemort many times but they're still pure bloods, he'll still respect that." James mumbled.

"You can say what you want about that, there is no place for half breeds in the wizarding world." Remus whispered.

"Then go to the muggle one, I'm sure we can find something, or maybe the ministry will have something." Sirius said.

"I don't trust the ministry" said Remus as he bit of the head of a chocolate frog. "I just, merlin I should have heard you out."

"You had every right to be mad at me, I still shouldn't have snapped like that I should have kept my anger in check."

"Let's not think about that anymore, we need to figure out what we're going to do about the Quidditch match, I don't know if McGonagall is gonna let you play mate." James informed

"I've still have a whole bunch of stuff to do for her, I swear it's worse than detentions with Filch." Sirius groaned into his pillow.

"What do they have you doing anyway?" James asked.

"First it was Dumbledore's study, I swear that guy hasn't dusted since the medieval ages, then I had to sort out the storage cupboard, have you seen what's in there. The first ever book of Hogwarts a history was made out of tree bark. Now I've to sort out each class rooms store cupboard, stock up on ingredients for Slughorn, clean all his bloody cauldrons that's like 82 oh and did I mention I've to clean the owlery."

"Okay now that's just taken the piss, that bird poop just doesn't move, we've tried." James floundered as he threw his arms in the air.

"How would you know that anyway?" Remus asked James. "Wait do I even want to know."

"Not really, anyway we'll talk to Dumbledore and see if we can this fixed." James promised.

"Thanks…It means a lot." Sirius smiled. "But can you not tell Aly, I swear she'll go mad if she finds out what I've been doing."

"Or is it the fact that you look like the grim and you're scared she'll find out." James grinned which made Sirius cringe. "Come on we've all heard the story, it's becoming common knowledge."

"Yeah and that's why I can never be with her." Sirius mumbled, "Crap"

"Dude…Please say you haven't fallen for her again." James begged. "Oh god you have, this is bad, this is really bad."

"How is it, they'd be great together, it'll be a true love story." Remus smiled.

"Do you know how it ends, if they are really the Sorceress and the grim then they're going to go through their whole lives knowing when the other is going to die and not be able to stop it?" James informed.

"Exactly why she can never know, Alyssa can never know how much I love her." Sirius sighed as he buried his head in his pillow and clung to his aching chest.

Three days had passed until Sirius was well enough to get out of bed and by then Madam Pomfrey and dragged him down to the infirmary to check on his heart, she had been quite content to find it was beating within it's normal rate but didn't like how the blood wasn't being completely pumped out which made breathing in more painful than it should have been. She had been able to tell him what it was that was actually wrong with him, he had always had his suspicions and always pegged it down to something he could live with but Cardiac arrhythmia, or irregular heart beat as it was more commonly known as, was something that could develop into something a lot worse and that was the way his was going. So now he sat on one of the hospital beds while the nurse turned some medication into a potion form which made it easier for him to take.

"So we've got some goods news and we've got some bad news" James said as he waltzed into the hospital wing.

"Goods news first please."

"You can play in the match"

"…And the bad news…"

"After you've done your tasks for Slughorn, which…" James said before Sirius could interrupt. "I've offered to help with, as a way to say sorry for how I've been acting."

"Mate, that's going to take forever, how we're even going to fit in some practice I don't know." Sirius sighed.

"Don't worry we'll get something done, after this we can-"

"Do no such thing; Mr Black is in no condition to be playing Quidditch." Madam Pomfrey interrupted before turning to Sirius. "You are to take this twice a day or if you feel your heart racing more than usual four times a day, now off with the pair of you."

The two boys didn't go quietly and continuously argued right up to the point were Pomfrey slammed the doors to her hospital wing shut. Kicking the door in frustration James turned around to see Sirius already walking towards Slughorn's room, ahead of him James caught the half hidden figure of an all too familiar Slytherin standing in the shadows, who quickly made himself known as Sirius came closer. The hook nosed Slytherin stood ready and waiting for some sort of remark from the Gryffindor but instead Sirius just walked past him. James couldn't help but feel a little bit proud at how Sirius didn't rise to the challenge and Snape himself seemed to be a little stunned as the two of them spared a glance at each other, nodding slightly James followed after his friend towards the potion classroom.

"You know, Snape didn't know what to do with himself when you walked past him." James laughed.

"I'm done with him, it's pointless now, this whole thing is just idiotic and pointless." Sirius mumbled as he kicked the door shut.

"I would like to keep my door intact please." Professor Slughorn said form his desk. "Your early Mr Black and so are you Mr Potter."

"I figured if I could start early I could get away early and get some practice in for the Quidditch match." Sirius informed.

"Last time I checked Mr Black; you were suspended from all activities such as Quidditch and trips to Hogsmeade." Slughorn reminded.

"I talked to McGonagall about that Professor and she talked to Dumbledore who has agreed that if Sirius can complete the task you've set for him he can play in the match." James informed.

"I will have to talk to the headmaster about that but for now I want Mr Potter here to take note of what ingredients that needs to be collected and Mr Black there are only 18 cauldrons that need cleaned." Slughorn said as he pointed over to the stack of cauldrons in the corner.

Sirius groaned as he watched the slime the cauldrons were caked in bubble and fall to the floor, naturally of course he knew Slughorn would give James the easiest task but as he took the cleaning tools from Slughorn who took Sirius and James' wands in return a plan formed inside the Gryffindor's head and just as Slughorn closed the door Sirius closed his eyes and snapped his fingers. James watched in amusement as the cauldrons began to line up and the cleaning tools floated in a line. While Sirius began to clean his first cauldron with some spare potion cleaner the rest of the cauldrons began getting the scrubbing of their lives and James couldn't help but laugh at how the Professor had easily over looked Sirius' ability to do wandless magic.

"You know I think they deliberately overlooked what you can do without a wand." James said as he sat down.

"I had started to think that but Dumbledore caught me and sat me down for a long talk about how I had to take responsibility for my actions, I'm starting to wonder if that was what his purpose was in the first place." Sirius laughed as he set the final cauldron neatly beside the others.

"Dude, your hair." James roared as he noticed how Sirius hair now stuck up at every angle, with a hint of green in it.

"Yeah, I know but it should wash out." Sirius smiled as he conjured up a towel.

Later that evening Slughorn came back to find the two boys chatting away and his entire classroom cleaner than it had ever been. The ingredients he had needed now sat on neatly on his desk and he immediately figured out that the rest of them had already been put away and the ones on his desk where the ones that went into Slughorn's personal cabinet, that he had the keys for.

"I got the house-elves to go down and collect them so I could stay and keep an eye on this one." James informed pointing to Sirius. "I got them to pick up some extras as well so you don't have to go down every three weeks."

"Finished the cauldrons pretty quickly and sorted the rest of the room out, mate you really should get a house elf for down here once in awhile. I was finding stuff from the potions we made in first year." Sirius said.

"Boys, I am most definitely impressed." said the Professor. "I talked to the headmaster and you were right and I think your head of house has booked the pitch for you tomorrow as well."

After they were dismissed the two Gryffindor's headed up to bed where they could get up early for practice tomorrow but on their way up they heard the familiar voices of Julie and Alyssa on the other side of the stairs. Before they could even get up the stairs James pulled Sirius to the side and motioned for him to be quiet as they listened in on the girl's conversation.

"So big match next week, do you think you can manage it?" Julie asked.

"Oh yeah, like I couldn't manage the one against Slytherin until Goyle chucked that bludger my way and near threw me off my broom."

"I was thinking more along the lines of playing with Sirius being there to, you can barely focus when he's near."

"That is the biggest load of…"

"Oh come of it Aly, you can't keep your eyes of him."

"…That maybe the case but I'm not gonna let my feelings for him get in the way of the match, we will win, no matter what it takes." Alyssa said. "Come on lets head to bed."

As the two girls headed up the stairs to the Ravenclaw tower James turned to see how his friend had handled finding out how Alyssa really felt. Sirius stood there with his eyes focused on the stairs and his hands clinging to the banister before groaning as he banged his head of the staircase in frustration.

The week could not have gone by fast enough and soon the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw was upon them, there had been talk about how Sirius was going to be pulled out of the match but so far as the rest of school watched the Gryffindor team make their way to the pitch students and teachers soon began to realise this was going to be one hell of a match. Since Gryffindor's captain Clark Mosley had left James had been offered the position but turned it down by choosing to maintain his place as Gryffindor's first position chaser so Luke Harrison, the teams other beater and Sirius' partner, took up the position as captain. The previous seeker Bradley Crawford had been replaced by Jake Basil and Jackie Perks still held her position as the third chaser while Mary McKinnon held onto her position as Keeper.

"Right, so this match should be pretty easy, the 'claws haven't got enough practice in due to how they constantly put their studies first." Harrison informed.

"I still say we should keep our guard up, Rivas, sorry Elsa" James corrected as Sirius glared at him "Is still a pretty fast flier and keeping her focused on avoiding the bludgers will slow her down."

"That's easier said than done, that girl has some mean reflexes." Davis added.

"We can do this, now lets go win the match."

With a final cheer Harrison led the Gryffindor Quidditch team out onto the field where the Ravenclaw's were already waiting. The first thing James noticed was how bored Alyssa looked on her broom but her eyes never left the box Madam Hooch was holding that held the snitch. Her fingers tapped against her broom and sun kept glistening of her binding ring.

"_That better not cause a distraction for Sirius." _James thought as he glanced over at his friend who was looking everywhere else but at the Ravenclaw team.

"Alright, I want a nice clean match, NO aiming bludgers at the other players." Madam Hooch reminded before blowing her whistle.

The chasers were of as the quaffle was thrown up into the air and seconds later the bludgers were released. But while everyone took their place in the air Alyssa lingered back slightly and a smirk could be seen on the referee's face as she released the snitch and before anyone could blink Basil and Rivas were off following the snitch before it quickly got lost in the stream of players.

"Looks like what hopes Hooch had for a clean match is gone." Henry Moyles, the commentator said.

"There will be a clean match and that's that." McGonagall reminded.

"Oh that was a nice save by Gryffindor's Keeper McKinnon, looks like Ravenclaw's chaser Julie Tate didn't like that one bit." said Moyles.

Julie had taken to throwing a mouthful at McKinnon before she went chasing back after the quaffle which was thrown to her by her partner and friend Lucy Baxton. The third chaser was a guy called Frank Greenwich that had joined the team this year and he currently sat open with a clear shot to the hoops.

"And Baxton throws the Quaffle to Tate who chucks to Greenwich and OH HE SCORES." Moyles yelled, "That's Ravenclaw ten, Gryffindor zero."

Cursing McKinnon picked up the quaffle and chucked it towards her own chasers whilst glaring over at the Ravenclaw's, in the background she could see Black dodging the bludger that had been aimed his way by the 'claws own beater Ryan Travis Jr but McKinnon also noticed how Black hunched over his broom slightly clutching at his chest before shaking his head and rounding his broom around to knock the bludger back towards the others teams beater which narrowly missed his own seeker Basil.

"Look's like Basil nearly got knocked of his broom by his own team mates but what's this Rivas, or is it Elsa now, is of towards the stands, and OH, WHAT A SHOT BY BLACK." Moyles yelled.

The crowd watched as the bludger Sirius had just hit hurtled towards Alyssa who had been chasing after the snitch and knocked her off her broom, Sirius almost went to catch her as she hurtled towards the ground, her broom flying towards the stands. But in a flash Alyssa whipped out her wand and formed a mattress on the ground before rolling and darting of towards the Hufflepuff stands. The crowd watched as Alyssa climbed up the stands and as she reached the top she darted across the edge and grabbed her broom that had been heading her way before diving of it and landed back on her broom and back into the match.

"What a fantastic set of reflexes from Ravenclaw's seeker, looks like Basil has seen the snitch though just as Potter scores ten points for the lions, that's the match sitting at a draw."

But the match was far from over soon things began to pick up the pace and the two teams were sitting with Gryffindor on 80 points and Ravenclaw on 70 and as things started to slow down and the two seekers began their descent on the snitch the match took a turn for the worse as a scream erupted from the stands which caused Alyssa to look up just in time to see Sirius fall unconsciously of his broom and in a split second Alyssa withdrew her reach from the snitch and tore after his falling form only for her to hear Dumbledore's voice holler in the background as Sirius' form fell elegantly to the ground and just as Mosley bellowed that Gryffindor had won the match Alyssa hoped of her broom and ran to her friends side. Kneeling beside him Alyssa shook Sirius' unconscious form and wiped away the blood that had began peeking out at the side of his mouth.

"Wake up Sirius." Alyssa cried as she shook him. "Wake up Damnit come on."

"What happened, how did he fall." James cried as he reached his friend.

"Sirius, come on you have to wake up please, please wake up." Tears had started falling from her eyes as she clung to his Red and gold robes. "Please, Sirius, I love you, you have to wake up, you hear me, screw the myth I LOVE YOU"

Alyssa's tears fell silently down her cheeks as she buried her head in Sirius' chest, listening to the already weakened heart beat decrease in strength, his hand lightly coming to rest on her brown hair before falling limply to the ground, strands of her hair still curled around the warm fingers.


	20. The unknown path

**The Sorceress and the Grim**

**Chapter 20**

**The unknown path**

Time had dragged by and the school had gone eerily quiet since Sirius had collapsed on the Quidditch pitch where he was quickly sent to St Mungo's, Alyssa had ignored everything and went with them but she was quickly brought back to Hogwarts where she spent most of her time away from as many people as she could but it didn't take long until James found her sitting up in the empty Astronomy tower with her arms wrapped around her legs.

"What did they say, will he be okay?" James asked as he sat beside her.

"I don't know, they wouldn't let me stay, they just took him straight into intensive care." Alyssa replied quietly.

James couldn't help but feel a bit lost for words at how lonely and broken the strong Ravenclaw looked in the setting sunlight. Her cheeks were stained and her blood shot green eyes caught James' own hazel ones for a second. James was so used to seeing her with her walls up and a hard look in her eyes which always seemed to be directed at him over the years which he completely understood given the way his family had treated her. But Sirius had shown him that Alyssa was nothing like her parents. He didn't know what made him do it but with the way she looked so lost sitting against the wall trying to be as small as possible James couldn't help but wrap his arms around her shaking form.

"It'll be okay, Sirius is strong he can make it through this, he has you waiting for him." James soothed.

"What are you talking about?" Alyssa whispered against his shoulder.

"He cares about you, more than you even realise."

_Where am I?_

_This is your destiny; this is what you have to fix._

He didn't know where he was but all he could see was the ruins of an old familiar school and below him he could see smoke rising from the courtyard and a peace seemed to wash over the area but it was the dark clouds that seemed to be rising in the background that made him think something else was coming. Behind him he felt the presence of an all too familiar being and turned around to see Morgaine standing there holding a staff that was not her own.

"This is what you have to protect." Morgaine said as she held out the staff.

A blood red stone sat on top of a winding piece of elder wood which was held in place by a familiar piece of fabric that he recognised as an invisibility cloak. Looking back behind him he saw the dark clouds had reached the ruined school and it was then that he noticed the outline of something sat on a perch above the great Hogwarts doors, a statue of a figure he grown so close to over the years. Behind him Morgaine had reached his side and with a flick of her wrist the staff she had been holding broke into three parts, the resurrection stone, the elder wand and the invisibility cloak, the three deathly hallows.

"She has guarded this school with her magic since your imprisonment, she fell fighting for you and before she took her last breath she somehow managed to perch herself at the top of the Hogwarts doors and turned into stone." Morgaine informed.

"But how, how am I gonna get it to her. I don't have the power to wield such a staff." he said.

"All you have to do is take the parts to her; Alyssa's spirit will do the rest. She's waiting for you to return her back to the world of the living."

He turned to look back at the statue that seemed to become a beam of light amongst the dark clouds and below he could make out the figure of a women dressed in black made her way towards the school but before he could move towards it the statue disappeared and the school began to dissolve away as voice began to be heard in the distance and the warmth he felt turned to cold before he felt arms wrap themselves around him.

"_Remember me when you return from death."_

"Heart rate is rising and staying steady."

"Pulse is strong but we'll keep him on the oxygen for the time being."

"Move, where is he, where is my son."

"Mam, you can't be in here yet."

"No let her be, let them have this moment."

"Sirius, Sirius can you hear me."

He did hear her, he heard everything that had been going on around him and as Sirius opened his eyes and looked up into the grey eyes of his mother he felt an all too familiar calm reside inside his chest at the look of relief that seemed to cross her face. His chest no longer felt tight and he almost felt at peace as Alyssa's voice echoed in his head telling him to remember her, but was this what she meant when he returned from death.

"Alyssa, there you are." Regulas cried as he ran up to the Ravenclaw who was sat outside with the Marauders and a familiar red head.

The four boys, Alyssa and Lily sat at the bottom of the steps and Regulas had been surprised to Evans there but after his brother had been taken into hospital the red head had been there to comfort the head boy and Regulas had noticed as the weeks had gone by that the two had grown remarkably close and it looked as if Lily was doing more than just tolerating him. Regulas however didn't miss the way Alyssa had perked up when Regulas came over and he could almost see her walls go up as she expected bad news.

"Mom wants us up at the hospital; Sirius is being brought out of intensive care."

Almost instantly Alyssa had jumped up and a look of relief washed over all of them, James looked as if he was about to cry with relief as he buried his head in Lily's shoulder just as she wrapped her arms around him. Remus and Peter seemed so relieved and seemed to lean back as if a massive weight had been lifted from their shoulders. Regulas took Alyssa's hand and he took her down towards Hogsmeade where the port key his mother had sent him would activate and take them to St Mungo's and straight away as soon as they appeared outside the doors he led her towards the room his mother had told him Sirius was being kept in but it was when they reached a private waiting room did he catch his fathers eyes and headed over to them.

"How is he?" Alyssa asked immediately.

"He needed a transplant, his heart stopped." Orion started and quickly noticed how Alyssa's eyes widened. "The transplant went well they had a moment when they couldn't resuscitate him but he came back."

"Can I see him?" She asked.

"Walburga is in there at the minute; once she comes out we'll see what happens." Orion informed.

"Father what's going to happen now?" Regulas asked.

"We'll see what happens, I doubt he'll be going back to Hogwarts until after Christmas but we'll see how his recovery goes." said Orion.

"But I thought Walburga hated Sirius." Alyssa asked Orion.

"She never hated him, she was disappointed and she regrets her actions but he is still our son."

Before Alyssa could reply Walburga had shown up and at the sight of her god daughter she took her hand and led her back to the room. Walburga squeezed Alyssa's handed before she opened the door and for the first time Alyssa seen the extent of the damage Sirius had lived his whole life with. He looked so small in the white hospital bed he lay in and around him a various range of machines stood lifeless, Walburga seemed to notice how scared the young girl looked.

"He can breathe on his own now something has been given him that extra bit of strength which is speeding along his recovery, but he is still weak." Walburga informed.

Alyssa didn't reply instead she walked over and sat down on his bed before she took his hand in hers and squeezed before leaning down and placing a kiss on his forehead as she laid her head on his shoulder. Walburga smiled at the sight before and her thoughts drifted back to the promise she had made to Morgaine, she had sworn to protect her son by keeping him at a distance to stop the dark lord from finding out how powerful her son would become but she whispered to Sirius as he came too and told him what she was doing and told him how much she loved him no matter what he did. Sirius had drifted back into unconsciousness with a small smile on his lips as he tried to reach for his mother's hand which she took and squeezed before kissing his cheek and staying with his sleeping form.

Behind her the brunette heard the door close and her tears silently fell as she clung to Sirius arm and drank in his presence as much as she could knowing it wouldn't last. But as her eyes drifted close she felt his hand lift up and run through her hair before his head turned slightly and his lips rested against her temple. For the first time since she could ever remember her heart felt content as his lips placed a small kiss to the side of her head and as Walburga walked in later to let Regulas see his brother she came across the form of Alyssa curled up beside Sirius with her arms wrapped his own that had found its way around her neck and wrapped itself in her loose brown curls as his head was turned and pressed against her temple with a small smile on his face.

Weeks grew into months and soon Christmas was upon them, snow fell lightly from the grey sky and lingered on the window of his bedroom in 12 Grimmauld place. In the new year Sirius would be heading back to school were he would finish his studies for his NEWT's and complete the final months of his final year at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft of Wizardry. A few days ago Sirius had been discharged from St Mungo's under strict orders he was to rest as much as possible and even when he returned to school Madam Pomfrey would be checking on him twice a week until he was deemed well enough. He hadn't felt as at peace as he did now, his heart no longer ached and he felt stronger but the peace he felt was because he finally gave into his feelings and as he turned his eyes fell on the sleeping form of Alyssa. Behind him a knock sounded on his door and Sirius turned around slowly as his mother walked into his room.

"I was hoping you would be awake." Walburga said.

"I couldn't sleep, what's wrong?" Sirius asked as he sat down.

"I wanted to run by you what it is we are planning to do but you cannot tell anyone or it could jeopardize everything."

"I know mother, I understand."

"If anyone asks you have spent your recovery stage at the Potter manor where Dorea has agreed to release a statement saying you were never there, which of course is going to give the impression you are. In a few days we are going to have Emily release a statement saying that we have disowned you." Walburga explained as she tightened her grip on a piece of parchment she was holding.

"What is that?" Sirius asked as he indicated to what she was holding.

"After the press release I want you read this, read it when you get back to Hogwarts and I hope that no matter what is said in the prophet you will listen to what this letter says."

Sirius nodded as Walburga handed him the envelope and left the room just as Alyssa stirred awake behind him. Immediately her hand reached around to feel for him and Sirius smiled as he reached over and took his hand in hers and placed a kiss against the back of it. Leaning over Sirius lay back down beside her and moved her brown curls out of her eyes. As her green eyes opened and caught sight of his grey ones her smile widened and he leaned to place a kiss on her nose as she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck just as he leaned down and placed a kiss on her lips and smiled. At that moment he didn't care about what they said or how the French myth went all he cared about was the girl that was in his arms.

"Do you think they'd end up together?" Lily asked as she sat down beside James in the Gryffindor common room.

"I hope so, she makes him really happy." James said. "Just like you make me happy."

"Well aren't you just charming." Lily smiled as she patted James on the arm.

Since she had seen Sirius fall of his broom her eyes had never left James' face, his hazel eyes had been filled with fear as he dropped the quaffle he had been holding. Her heart had sunk at the sight of his face draining of every ounce of colour and as they had taken Sirius of the pitch and to the hospital wing she had ran down to him and engulfed him in a hug. Ever since she had found out he had been head boy Lily had been insistent on avoiding him as much as possible but throughout this year he had shown her just how much he had matured and when she found out he had saved Snape's life after everything that had happened her view of him had changed drastically and as James had fell apart in her arms she couldn't help but want to shield him from the world and give him that chance everyone had been saying he deserved. She did give him that chance and when he had took her Hogsmeade to keep his mind focused on something else she had never wanted to kiss somebody as much as she had wanted to kiss him.

After that they had been making a go of being seen as a couple and Lily found that she hadn't felt happier, he was devoted to her and whenever he felt down, when James didn't know what was going on with Sirius or how he was Lily had been there and made him remember the happier times. Now as they sat in front of the fire with James reading over the letter Sirius had sent him for the fourth time Lily couldn't help but feel complete.

"Nothing in this letter gives anything away that tells me he hooked up with Aly, he just tells me that he's okay and that he'll be back after Christmas." James said as he leaned back into the sofa and pulled Lily close to him.

Sirius had stayed true to his word about returning to Hogwarts after Christmas as James spotted him standing by the train with his arm around Alyssa's shoulders. Beside him Lily cooed at the sight of the schools bad boy looking so wrapped up in love. Christmas had passed without any worries and Sirius had even showed up on Christmas eve to hand James and his parents their gifts before being collected by his father and taken back to Grimmauld. James hadn't figured out what was going on at home for his friend as Sirius had kept quiet about it but as they boarded the train and heard Lily gasp before handing him the copy of the Daily Prophet she had collected from the stand James had a feeling that there was a lot more to the Blacks than Sirius was letting on. Even when James asked him about it Sirius stayed quiet and merely stared out at the window as Remus read out the article. Alyssa had buried herself under Sirius' arm where he played with a few strands of hair he could reach, something he had grown quite accustomed to.

**Black heir disowned and disgraced after collapse at school.**

_Sirius Orion Black, the infamous heir to the most ancient and noble house of Black has officially been disowned according to the families PR Emily Brown. Reports came in that after his collapse during a school Quidditch match Sirius had turned his family away and refused any help or support from them as he recovered from a well needed heart transplant. It is no common knowledge that since being born 28 weeks early Sirius had suffered constant problems with his heart that finally gave out during a match between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw houses, the house Black's childhood sweetheart Alyssa Charlotte Rivas had been sorted into. _

_Reasons behind the Black's disownment of their son have came as a shock to the wizarding world as Emily Brown released a statement saying "The family has had enough of their son's actions and during a time when he needed to be surrounded by the ones he loves he turned them away instead focusing on keeping his childhood friend Alyssa by his side the entire time. The family have washed their hands of him and he has been removed from the family tree as well as from the family vault where his part of the Black fortune has gone towards Ministry funding" _

_Emily had then gone onto say that the disgraced Black heir had continuously thrown everything he had been taught back in their faces and made out that he never needed them and that he could survive this world on his own. Given the funds Walburga's Black disgraced brother Alphard Black had left his nephew Sirius would be right in saying he was financially stable in supporting himself. But when did a family that showed nothing but love deserve such hate from a son that was loved by his entire family. _

_A source from the school said that it was down to the company Black kept as he surrounded himself with half bloods and muggle borns, there have also ben talks that he's befriended a few half breeds but those rumours have yet to be proven with the headmaster himself Albus Dumbledore saying that he would not allow any half breed of any kind into his school, for fear of endangering his students. So what does the Daily Prophet think of these turn of events, I say that whatever really happened must be that bad that Walburga Black's own little miracle has been disowned by his entire family._

"That can't be true, we saw Regulas come and collect Alyssa to take her up, and you wouldn't turn your brother away like that." James said as he watched his friend.

But Sirius didn't say anything instead he had just closed his eyes and slept throughout the entire train ride and even as the fest ended the disgraced Black still didn't say a word whilst the other students whispered behind his back. Sirius bid Alyssa good night before returning to the Gryffindor tower were he closed the curtains around his bed and buried himself under his blankets as he pulled out the letter his mother had given him and as the cold swept under his skin and a piece of him seemed to dissolve away Sirius read,

_My darling son,_

_By now you would have seen the article in the paper and I fear I may have over stepped my mark but know this my son, there is always a place for you here. Morgaine is right about your heritage the story they talk about in France is true, you are the grim, I don't know how and I fear for whatever reason that may be but what I fear the most is how the dark lord will react the most if he were to ever find out. Know that I have done this to protect you and that whenever the times comes that you are to return home, know that whatever you need will be kept in the vault we hold under the basement. Your inheritance and everything else will be kept in there. Sirius whatever happens know that I will always love you and if I see you before my time is up then I can die happy knowing my son is still alive. Protect her Sirius for soon the fate of the world will fall in your hands and I may not be there to help you back up when you fall. In time you will come to understand that what I have done is to protect you even though I cannot protect you from the path you are to walk I can at least protect you from the Voldemort, at least I can protect one of my sons. When you do finally return to this house hold know that your inheritance, your place within this house, your position as the Black heir will be restored. When you return you will return as the head of this household where I believe you can change this family for the better. _

_We are so proud of you_

_Sincerely_

_Mother._


	21. It all ends with a cloud of dust

**The Sorceress and the Grim**

**Chapter 21**

**It all ends with a cloud of dust.**

Time had gone by as simple as it could be and after graduating from Hogwarts Sirius was dropped with a bombshell from James about how he had asked Lily to move in with him to which she agreed. So now he stood on the door step of his uncle Alphard's old home, his favourite uncle that had left Sirius a good fortune and a home in his will after his death which became available after he graduated. But as he stepped over the threshold he was undertaken with memories he didn't want to face and as the months dragged by Sirius sold the house and began searching for another apartment. His search had gone well and he found a quiet apartment just outside central London and as he drowned another fire whiskey in the Leaky Cauldron he ran his hands threw his shoulder length hair as a sigh escaped his lips. After they had graduated his relationship with Alyssa had been put on hold as she accepted a place in a French fashion school and it wasn't until many months had dragged by after he celebrated his 18th birthday did he recognise a voice echo behind him as he walked through Diagon Alley with the newly engaged James Potter.

"Sirius?" the voice called excitedly and as he turned around he was met with a force jumping into his arms and wrapped her legs around him.

"Aly, what are you doing here?" Sirius asked as he wrapped his arms around her waist and set her back down on the ground.

"I dropped out of my course, I've only just moved back to London." she replied.

It was here that Sirius managed to get a good look at her and the first thing he noticed was how she was much curvier than before and her brown hair now sat just past her shoulders. Her green seemed to sparkle as she smiled broadly back at him. He noticed how her binding ring, the simple silver band it was, still sat delicately on her finger and when she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek he couldn't help but capture those cherry chap sticked lips with his own again.

"Alright love birds cut it out." AJ, the other girl that had joined Alyssa side after graduation, laughed.

"Come on, we'll catch up over a drink, my treat." James insisted.

"So what are you doing anyway?" Sirius asked as he and James set down four sets of butterbear.

"Well I'm currently staying with your parents until I find a place of my own but they constantly insist I stay there." Alyssa informed.

"You should have escaped while you had the chance." Black laughed

"They are driving me nuts, normally I don't have a problem with them but ever since your dad fell ill I've-"

"Dad's sick." Sirius interrupted as he spat out his butterbear.

"…Didn't you know, I thought you knew?" Alyssa mumbled. "He hasn't been well for awhile; he's had to quit his job."

Sirius hadn't been prepared for this; he had always seen his father as the one to last the longest out of his family. Over the years things between his family had deteriorated even more even though he understood the reasoning when he had tried to help when he found out Regulas had gotten marked they just bluntly ignored him. Emily had rang him sometime after that saying it was to risky to which Sirius had yelled at her to tell them that he was done playing these games and that he no longer wanted to be apart of it, he hadn't heard anything from them since. Now after hearing the news about his father Sirius wanted to go back home more than usual but he wasn't sure how it would have gone down and when he did go visit as he took Alyssa back to Grimmauld he was not prepared for the onslaught his mother directed towards him.

"What in the name of Merlin are you doing in this house?" Walburga had yelled. "Get out, get out now."

"Not until I see dad." Sirius yelled back.

"He doesn't want to see you; none of us want to see your treacherous form now get out."

She had took to pushing him towards the door until a small voice belonging to the weakened form of his father called from the top of the stairs, Sirius caught a quick glance of the thin, pale looking, ghost of man that used to be Orion Black before his mother had wretched open the front door and shoved him outside, slamming the door in his face. Sirius stumbled backwards as the house began settling back into its hiding spot and he could hear the distant yelling between Alyssa and his mother as he stared up at the closing house. He had sat there on the ground for a good few minutes waiting for something to happen and as the sun began to set Sirius turned and apparated back to his apartment. Dark clouds had quickly replaced the empty orange sky and rain fell heavily as Sirius opened his front door and was greeted with a bunch of bills on his door step.

"Bunch of maniacs the lot of them." Sirius groaned, chucking his keys on the counter and yanking open the cupboards in search of his whiskey.

The burning orange fluid had become a comfort for the disgraced Black and had taken to it better than the wizarding version. Both James and Remus, who had got a job working for Dumbledore, had told him to watch his drinking but Sirius had simply laughed and told them that he knew his limits. But he had been drinking more than normal as his friends moved on with their lives and he remained stuck in the past. James and Lily had grown very close over the years and the news of their engagement was like a kick in the stomach for the black haired boy, even though James had told him he wanted Sirius as his best man, Sirius himself didn't have the heart to say no especially after James told him the wedding was being held on Valentines day which was in a few months time. As cliché as Sirius had said it was James had laughed and said that it was the only date him and Lily could get. Over the noise of the thunder Sirius barely managed to hear the knock on the door and he looked out the window to see Lily pulling away in the Honda civic she had talked James into buying her for passing her test.

"Getting Lily to drop you of James was not a good…Aly."

Sirius had been expecting the sight of his best friend when he opened the door but seeing the drenched brunette standing on his doorstep in a skirt and shirt made him quite happy that it wasn't James. Due to the rain Sirius could make out the shape of a pink bra under her folded arms and through her chattering teeth she asked him if she could come in to which he didn't object and quickly stepped aside before summoning her a towel after shutting the door.

"What are you doing here?" Sirius asked as he rubbed her shoulders with the towel.

"Well…After your mom threw you out I kinda had a go at her to which she told me that if I didn't like how she ran things then to leave….So I did and I headed to AJ's who wasn't in and then it started raining which was great and all that given my choice of outfit for today so I started walking down the road when a car pulled over and Lily stepped out and well she offered to bring me here and here I am but quite frankly I don't know what I'm doing but I'll leave when AJ gets home…"

"You're rambling." Sirius grinned, "Look bathrooms down the hall go get dried off and I'll get you something to wear."

"Sorry….For earlier I didn't think she'd act like that and I'll be out of your hair soon."

"Nonsense your welcome to stay, we can catch up on the stuff we've missed, plus you owe me a few happy birthdays." Sirius called as he headed towards his room.

Alyssa took this time to take in her friend's apartment while she tried to ignore the butterflies in her stomach. It was spacious enough with the marble kitchen being right beside the living room. The black leather sofa seemed to stand out remarkably against the red walls and the white and black tiles of the kitchen. The cream carpet was completely spotless and the black curtained windows seemed to add that extra bit of darkness against the light that cascaded from the ceiling.

"Sorry it's not much but hopefully it'll do." Sirius stated as he handed the brunette an old school shirt.

With the towel wrapped her around the shoulders and the shirt in hand Alyssa went to change out of her wet clothes while Sirius took a mental note to thank the soon to be Mrs Potter. Turning the kettle on and putting some bread in the toaster Sirius drowned his shot of whiskey before dumping the empty bottle in the bin. The toaster popper and the kettle clicked as Alyssa stepped back into the front room with Sirius' shirt on. The aged white shirt fell to just above her knees and her damp wavy hair clung to her form as she scratched at her arm.

"It looks good on you." Sirius smirked as he took in her bare legs.

Before Sirius could hand over her coffee and toast Alyssa's hands grabbed at the front of his shirt and her lips crashed onto his. The soft murmur of "I missed you" and the taunts of wanting were heard through the kisses as Sirius wrapped his arms around her waist and hoisted her up onto the counter. As her hands weaved through his hair the sound of a happy birthday here and happy birthday there were whispered in between kisses as his hands reached up to the top of her thigh and rested on the small of her back.

"Stay with me." He mumbled into her hair as she nibbled on his ear. "Move in with me."

A lick of his ear and growl in reply was all that was said as Sirius picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, the thought of this being their first night of sleeping together never crossed their minds as her hands ran over his jeans and his lips over her collar bone. The memories of the past were thrown to the side as she groaned into Sirius' hair as his fingers swept over her naked hips. The thoughts of the future were swept under the carpet as he pushed into her and the thoughts of tomorrow never entered their minds as they fell into a dreamless sleep.

"We really should get back to the party."

"It can wait; Harry won't mind he's only one."

"Sirius, if Lily and James find out what we're doing in their bathroom we will be killed."

He groaned against her neck as his finger unhooked themselves from her knickers but a quick kiss to his temple and sparkle in her eye told him they would continue this later and it satisfied his need to take his fiancé now. They had kept their engagement quiet after he proposed to her a few weeks after she had caught Lily's bouquet. Alyssa had told him that the sooner they told their friends the easier it will be to plan their wedding. At first she had only thought he proposed due to the death of his father and with his brother missing Alyssa had felt that he should have mourned first rather than propose. Sirius had told her that it had made him realise how short life actually was and he had missed out on enough time with her to want to waste any more. She eventually agreed under the condition he invited his mother, unhappily he had agreed and more surprisingly he had agreed to lunch with his mother to inform her of his proposal, she had been mildly impressed and simply told him it was about time and to keep it discreet. After the death of Orion Black and the disappearance of her son Regulas, Walburga had caught up with her son after the funeral and apologised for how she had been acting. He had quickly forgiven her after he saw how upset and broken his proud mother looked and after a few days of staying at Grimmauld to look after her Sirius returned home.

"Now what do we say when we go back downstairs." Alyssa asked as she fixed his shirt.

"We were merely trying to figure out how we were going to tell you guys that we're getting married." Sirius cited. They had memorised it time and time again when he had first followed her upstairs.

"There you two are, honestly your Harry's godfather pad's you can't keep disappearing on his first birthday." James mockingly glared as they came back down stairs.

"Ah well….About that." Sirius replied as he instantly forgot what he had rehearsed.

"We were trying to figure out how to tell you our big news." Alyssa said as she nudged Sirius in the arm as panic crossed over his face.

"Well…You see Prongs….we umm."

"OI YOU LOT SHUT IT A SECOND." James yelled. "Padfoot here has some big news."

Whatever colour was left in his face quickly drained away as everybody in the room turned to watch them, each of them eager to hear what Sirius had to say. Normally when Sirius had big news it was definitely big and if there was one thing Sirius hated was being put on the spot regardless of how he acted in school. Alyssa's friends AJ, Lucy and Julie watched with an almost hunger on their faces and Lily smiled sweetly as she took a place by her husbands side with her one year old son in her arms, while Remus and Peter looked ready to grab him if Sirius tried to make a run for it. Alyssa patted his arm reassuringly and gave him a small shove forward as he took in a deep breath to prepare himself from informing everyone of something nobody thought he would actually do.

"I'm getting married." He mumbled quickly. "Sorry, I mean me and Alyssa are getting married on the first of November."

The room had gone quiet and Sirius almost contemplated turning into his dog form to hide from all the blank faces but that was before James' face broke out into a massive grin and Remus and Peter joined in on the hug James and engulfed Sirius in. Lily had given out a small squeal of delight as she wrapped one arm around Alyssa and held Harry on her hip. The squeal that had erupted from AJ's mouth had startled the one year old slightly and as soon as Lily had let go of the brunette she had tackled her friend to the ground. Lucy merely congratulated them in a more dignified manner while Julie seemed to remain quiet but Sirius noticed over James' shoulder the expression on his ex-girlfriends face but the dark look that crossed her face quickly vanished as she wrapped her arms around her friend.

"Did you notice Julie's face?" Alyssa had asked him as they had arrived home.

He had noticed and he had known exactly what it meant, Sirius knew Alyssa did to and even suggested that maybe she should remain as a guest instead of being part of the bridal party. But the entire wedding had to be put on hold as Dumbledore announced at an emergency meeting that the prophecy they had been monitoring was about James and Lily and the three of them were soon put into hiding and moved into a house in Godric's hollow. Sirius had stopped by to make sure they were safe and it was then Dumbledore told them they would need a secret keeper, to which Sirius immediately volunteered for.

"Mate, your getting married in a few months and this could go one for a while." James had reminded him.

"I know and I can do that as well, it's only going to be a small affair and kept quiet so you could still attend." Sirius replied.

"I don't think Alyssa will be happy with the idea of you being our secret keeper, she may see it as something that's too dangerous." Lily had mentioned.

"She can handle it; her ascension is this year as well so she'll gain the rest of her powers. Good luck to anyone who'll try and attack us now eh." Sirius had laughed.

The Sorceress' ascension was the time in her life that she was basked under the light of a blue moon and the part of her magic that was locked would be opened and a new source of strength would flow through her veins. It would be with this ascension that Alyssa would be strong enough to hold the staff of Merlin, the whereabouts of the three deathly hallows would be made known and she would easily be able to summon them. Sirius had picked the first of November for two reason, one because it fell after Halloween when the magical world was as its most power and two it was four days before Alyssa's ascension. Their marriage would complete their binding and if anyone was to attack her the protection they would both gain would diminish anything thrown at them especially seeing as it was before their 21st birthday which was when they had to have the binding completed. Soon Alyssa could take her place as the Wizarding worlds Sorceress and help Dumbledore settle this war once and for all but deep down Sirius had a feeling it would not be that simple.

"That is if she's ready for her ascension, if she's not strong enough we all know it could kill her." Dumbledore prompted.

"I'll be there to protect her." Sirius reminded, they had not told Dumbledore of his Animagus form but they had a feeling he already knew.

"Legend tells that it is the grim that will protect her." The old wizard said.

"The grim is death; she'll be protected by death itself when she ascends. I highly doubt it means the figure of the grim itself." Sirius laughed.

Sirius hadn't yet fully accepted that he was the grim he still saw it as a joke and not something he felt he could match up to. But as the Fidelius charm fell into place and Sirius made his way home after bidding his friends good bye he couldn't help but feel that maybe a visit to Morgaine was in order to help him understand his role in all of this but when he got home and the sounding of retching from the bathroom reached his canine ears the thought left his mind.

"Aly, are you alright?" Sirius asked from the bathroom door.

"No I am not alright; your spawn is going to be the death of me." She choked in reply.

"…My spawn." he murmured in confusion.

"Yes your spawn." Alyssa groaned as she looked up at him. "I'm pregnant."

"You really think this is a good idea mate."

"Yeah, it's too risky now not with what is at stake."

"Can't believe you're going to be a dad but don't you think things are moving a bit quick."

"I know they are James but I don't want to waste anymore time."

"But Padfoot things could go horribly wrong with the curse on your family she could loose it."

"I've considered that but I think after I was born it may have been cancelled out." Sirius informed "Look switching to Peter is going to be a better option; nobody is going to suspect it's him."

"Sirius is right James nobody really thinks I'm up to anything." Peter had mumbled.

Peter Pettigrew had always been a quiet boy and always aimed to take life easy and whatever he could get he would take it, he had never thought he could amount to anything. But his friendship had been tried and tested throughout the years and time and time again things slowly began fading to nothing as they all began moving on with their lives, leaving the chubby, and mouse of a boy behind. Even now he couldn't really fathom how this was going to play out, he knew what he had to do he didn't really have a choice in the matter.

"So it's settled, Peter is the new secret keep. Sirius I hope you know what your doing" James said quietly.

"Don't worry I won't let you guys down." Peter smiled. "This way Sirius can concentrate on keeping Aly safe and you can concentrate on keeping Harry and Lily safe"

By 2am on October 31st Peter Pettigrew had been made the Potter's secret keeper and as Sirius went back to his pregnant fiancés side James shut the door as Peter apparated home and thought over how to make this work best to his advantage. In school Peter had admired them, he had grew accustomed to be second best but also how they applauded they little things he did like when he found the last part of castle they needed to complete the map they had celebrated in his name. They had helped him earn his first girlfriend but when she had died from a curse from a fellow Auror he had attended her funeral alone. They had been more focused on tracking down the rouge Auror when in turn Peter had wanted them there just like he had been by his side when James lost his parents, when Sirius lost his dad and when Remus' family were slaughtered in front of him when he turned down Greyback's offer. Peter had been there for every single one of them yet none of them where there for him, except Lily had been, she had stayed up with him and baked him those cookies that he loved so much. He liked Lily she was always nice to him and he didn't want her to get hurt, he would make sure the dark lord left her alive, he would look after her the way she looked after him. So as he sat and contemplated how to make his so called friends suffer Peter stared at the ancient paper that mentioned the love of Peter's life once and he made his decision.

Sirius had woken up to the feel of Alyssa's hand running down his bare back and he couldn't help but grin into his pillow before turning to face her, they were getting married tomorrow and tonight was his last night of freedom. Unfortunately Sirius was planning on spending it indoors while Alyssa went to visit his mother, he had hoped him and James could have gone through with his plans to go to Las Vegas but he had been happy enough knowing they were safe and that he would see them tomorrow. Running his hand over her belly that held his tiny kid Sirius felt like things couldn't be any happier. It was currently five in the afternoon and these long lay-ins were something he cherished.

"Now there has been a change of plans, your mother has insisted I stay in Grimmauld tonight to make sure nothing happens." Alyssa informed.

"What does she think is going to happen, a terrorist attack?" Sirius grumbled.

"Tradition Sirius, next time you'll see me I'll will be heading down the aisle at that church near that coffee shop you love so much."

"Only cause of the muffins not for the supermodel looking owner."

"Sure it is." Alyssa laughed. "Look I'll send you an owl first thing in the morning just please don't get to drunk and be sure to check in on Peter make sure he's still got the rings."

"Pete will be fine he's nice and safe tucked up in that house of his." said Sirius.

"I know but you know how he manages to lose everything." Alyssa mumbled "Look at 11 o'clock tomorrow we will be getting married and then we'll be off to spend two weeks in the Pacific."

"Don't worry about a thing." Sirius whispered as he kissed her forehead and a beep sounded from outside. "Look that's Henry the new driver just please stay away from the curtains you know how they don't like you."

They had never figured out why, Sirius had always thought it was because they didn't like him either but as he helped Alyssa into the waiting black Bentley Sirius felt an odd chill go through his body as the car drove away. In the distance he could see the outline of rain clouds and hoped they were gone by tomorrow. Walking back indoors Sirius headed to the bathroom to clean himself up but as soon as he closed the door something ripped through him and he fell to the floor. He didn't know what had happened all he saw when he opened his eyes was his dog form reflect in the window he was looking through beside him he could smell his own brother.

"_Well done you have done me proud."_

"_T-Thank you m-my lord."_

"_My lord when do you plan to strike"_

"_Tonight, get ready my loyal followers as tomorrow we begin our decent on the wizarding world."_

The scene changed and he found himself staring through a set of bars up at the blue moon that sat in the sky. He felt empty and that feeling of cold and loneliness crept back into his body as the sound of choking echoed behind him and as he turned around the scene changed again to that of a destroyed house that looked exactly like the one the Potters were being kept in. Beside the house stood Morgaine whose mouth moved silently as he took in the ruined house. Next thing he knew he was changing back and he felt a cold hand wash over him before the scene faded to black and a scream erupted from the darkness. He woke with a start and the first thing he noticed was the darkness outside, panic seemed to wash over him as he grabbed his wand and his keys before running out of his apartment. Within minutes Sirius landed his infamous flying motorcycle that Alyssa insisted he got rid off outside Peter's house.

"Pete open up it's me." Sirius called as he banged on the door which opened with loud creak.

The first thing Sirius noticed was the empty biscuit tin and the cold cup of tea on the table and as he searched the house for his friend worry seemed to settle in. The panic he had felt earlier settled back in and seconds later he was back on his motor bike heading to the Potters and it was the smoke he saw first. A choked cry made its way out of his throat as he stepped onto the grass, his knees shook slightly and before he could fall he felt an arm wrap around his shaking body and looked up into the face of Hogwarts's gatekeeper.

"Hagrid…What…Where are they?" Sirius choked out.

"James and Lily….Sirius they….I'm sorry they're….Sirius they're gone." Hagrid replied as a tear fell from his face.

"Harry, where's Harry?" he cried before noticing the bundle in Hagrid's arms.

"Harry seams to have slept through the whole thing; he has a nasty scar though."

"Give him to me Hagrid I'm his godfather, Lily and James…They entrusted him to me….Give him to me." Sirius begged.

"Sorry Sirius' mate but I gotta give him to Dumbledore; he's to stay with his aunt and uncle."

"But they're muggles." Sirius exclaimed, "Look….Take my motorcycle…It'll get you there faster."

"But you love that bike." Hagrid murmured as Sirius let Harry hold his finger who let out a tiny 'pa'foo'.

"Just go….Get him somewhere safe."

Hagrid nodded as silent tears fell from Sirius' face, the gatekeeper felt a lump form in his throat as he watched the man in front of him fall apart. Wrapping his arms around the shaking man Hagrid soothed him the best he could before hopping on the bike and taking his leave. Sirius wiped his face with his sleeve as he watched Hagrid disappear into the night sky and slowly he turned and walked towards the house. The door hung of its hinges and the glass had been shattered but it was the familiar sense of dead magic he felt as he crossed the threshold that used to be so full life. He caught sight of the blackened living room where the patches of black scattered the walls from spells that had missed their target. Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of a foot dangling at the top of the stairs and as he made his way upstairs Sirius caught sight of the corpse of his best friend.

James Potter lay sprawled out on his back, his empty hazel eyes staring up at the ceiling as his cracked glasses lay beside him on the ground. The slippers Lily had brought him lay at twisted angles on his feet and Sirius knelt down in defeat as his repaired heart broke. A sob escaped his lips as he wrapped his arms around the fallen form of his best friend and cradled him close to his chest. The cry that retched itself from his mouth was like the sound of a dying wolf crying for its pack. Sirius rocked back and forth as he cried praying for his brother in arms to wake up, he longed to feel his arms wrap around him and tell him that everything was going to be okay but that comfort never came and as Sirius opened his eyes he noticed the door to Harry's room lay open.

Laying the body of his friend in a more comfortable position Sirius stood and walked over to find Lily Potter lying on her side, those green eyes that James loved so much stared without seeing at the wall. Her red hair fell around her body that seemed dull in the dark night and Sirius realised there and then that she had died protecting Harry and realised why Dumbledore was placing Harry with his relatives. Blood wards was something Sirius understood it was the ward his family cherished the most and he had been brought up knowing that there was nothing stronger. He knelt down beside her and wished he had gotten the chance to apologise for all the times he had never given her a chance.

"I'll fix this." Sirius whispered. "I promise I'll fix this Lily."

A thought Sirius had never wanted to acknowledge crossed his mind and he realised that all this was down to Peter's fault, they had switched to him and he had sold them out. A dark growl echoed in his throat and calmly he walked out the door and left the dead house behind him before apparating into town. He searched everywhere for Peter and it wasn't until he apparated into London itself did he pick up Peter's scent. Sirius' canine senses followed Peters and it was when he heard big ben chime nine in the morning on the 1st November did Sirius catch sight of the traitor. Peter noticed Sirius and broke into a run with the enraged Black hot on his heals. Sirius eventually corned Peter in a familiar street. He recognised instantly and in the distance he could make out where Grimmauld place stood, behind him stood the coffee shop he favoured.

"Why Peter…Why did you do it?" Sirius growled as he drew his wand on the traitor.

"Why…What are you talking about Sirius." Peter said as he spotted a familiar person behind Sirius.

"You know fine rightly what I'm talking about."

"LILY AND JAMES, SIRIUS…HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO THEM, HOW COULD YOU KILL THEM." Peter yelled suddenly

"ME, YOU WORTHLESS TOE-RAG, DON'T YOU DARE STAND THERE AND DENY WHAT YOU'VE DONE."

"YOU KILLED THEM, YOU KILLED LILY AND JAMES."

But before Sirius could respond the alleyway exploded just as Sirius felt something touch his shoulder he was knocked of his feet. His head was ringing as screams began reaching his delicate ears and a cloud of dust lay all around him before he caught sight of a pile of robes, discarded in the crater. Peter had blown up the street and he could see Auror's apparating from across the street, the coffee lay in ruins and body were strewn across the street. But as arms clamped down on his shoulders and the sound of someone talking echoed in his ears he caught sight of Alyssa lying on her back with her head to the side and her eyes closed. He realised as the Auror's placed him under arrest that she had grabbed his shoulder and the flicker of a smirk he had seen on Peters face before he blew up the street was because he knew he was taking her with him.

It was when Big Ben chimed 11 o'clock and he spotted the church in the distance did he realise he had just lost everything and it was all Peter Pettigrew's fault. He didn't know why and he didn't know how to stop but Sirius began laughing manically at the situation, even as they dragged him to Azkaban and took his photo with his criminal ID he still laughed, even as they shoved him into his cell on the highest floor did he still laugh, a laugh that was filled with so much emptiness, so much hate and lunacy that echoed of the very walls of the prison he would spend the next 12 years in.


	22. Knocking at deaths door

**The Sorceress and the Grim**

**Chapter 22**

**Knocking at deaths door. **

He had never expected it to be this cold but then again he had never expected to find himself locked in a cell accused of mass murder. Twelve muggles they said he had killed along with, Peter, James and Lily but he had seen her, he had seen Alyssa lying on the ground….Had she made it out alive.

The blue moon rose days later which had caused him to stop his manic laughter and realise just what had happened. Tonight he was supposed to be standing by Alyssa's side as she accepted the staff of Merlin and took on her role as the wizarding worlds Sorceress but tonight wasn't going to happen and if Alyssa had survived he believed she wouldn't make it through the night and by the time the sun set on Alyssa's 21st birthday Sirius felt whatever was left in him shatter as the binding ring on his finger vanished and left an ugly red burn, the binding had been severed, whatever protection the Black family had over Alyssa was gone and if she was still alive she would be hunted by all those who sought to control merlin's staff and the power it possessed, just like those who sought to control the elder wand .

Days soon turned into weeks, weeks turned into months and months turned into years and Sirius felt a single bit of sanity fall away with every full moon. Each and every time he thought of how Remus was now the only one left and knew deep down that along with the rest of the world the werewolf thought Sirius Black was a murderer and a death eater. It killed him inside to think that everyone, possibly even his family, thought that he had become everything he fought not to be. Footsteps seamed to snap him out of his daze and he turned to the sound of the new British Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge making his rounds.

"Here, Fudge…Do a crazy old man a favour and give me your newspaper." Sirius croaked. "Miss doing the cross words puzzles."

The Minister of Magic had looked horrified but obliged and handed him the paper and a pen with a look that dared him to try and dig his way out with it. Sirius merely grinned in return and Fudge covered his mouth in disgust and left. He chuckled to himself at how Fudge couldn't get away fast enough and beside him he heard Bellatrix, who had been brought in a few months back, laugh alongside him. Looking down at the paper the title seemed to scream out at him and he realised that he must have finally lost it if the paper was telling the truth.

**New French Minister of Magic Arcturus Black wins election.**

_Today history has taken a turn but nobody can figure out if it was for the better or for the worst as a member of the infamous Ancient and noble house of Black takes a lead role within the French Ministry of Magic. _

_Arcturus Black, Father to the late Orion Black, was crowned victor over his competitors as he won an election that was so closely scrutinized that everyone was surprised Black still won. With promises of a better future, tighter rules and more internal and external examination into the Ministries forces Arcturus Black quickly won the vote as a compassionate man who sought for a better future. But can a Black really put a country before their own kind, no one can know for sure as the Blacks have constantly been seen as the harbingers of death, a family ridden of dark magic and death eaters. If any of the members were as rotten as disgraced heir Sirius Black who is currently serving a life sentence for the death of twelve muggles and the slaughter of James and Lily Potter on that fateful Halloween night, but who could forget the bravery of dear Peter Pettigrew who was blown to bits trying to stand up to the tyrant. So far the new Minister has yet to comment on his only grandson's imprisonment but it seems the family have all but forgotten about their lost heir. So the question is, will Arcturus Black become the light the Wizarding world needs so badly or will he fall just like the rest of the Black family. _

Sirius couldn't help but laugh at how they called him a tyrant but it was the box in the corner of the paper that mentioned the Weasley's winning a bunch of money did Sirius turn to the page and immediately come face to face with an all too familiar rat sitting on a young boys shoulder.

"Hello Peter." Sirius grinned evilly.

"_My dear, dear grim when will you awaken from your plight"_

He found himself standing at death's gate staring right into the cold grey eyes of a big black dog, behind him the hand of death fell on his shoulders as the dog leaned its head down and swallowed him whole. He hadn't been afraid, he had welcomed it, he had welcomed death into his life and as he opened his own greys and saw the gate of the underworld lay empty Sirius Black laughed as he felt his own Animagus form stir within him as he accepted that he was the grim, he was death itself, the gatekeeper to the underworld. He didn't know what made him do but he walked towards the gates and wrenched them open looking for somebody only to come across the figures of two people he hadn't seen since Halloween. James and Lily Potter stared back at Sirius who had just accepted his destiny as the grim.

"She isn't here mate, she's still alive." James had said his voice barely a whisper.

"Go find her Sirius, find her and clear your name." Lily added.

"First things first I've gotta get to Peter." Sirius murmured, a mad glint in his eye.

"Don't become what it is he made you out to be Padfoot, your better than that."

Those words echoed in Sirius' ear as he woke on the shore, the water splashing at his feet. The first thing Sirius noticed was the cold before noticing the outline of Azkaban in the distance. He was free, Sirius had escaped, he had become the first person to escape Azkaban and some sort of calm had washed over him. Laughing Sirius stood and jumped into his Animagus form before tearing down the shore and into the forest where he began his journey to Hogwarts.

The wizarding world had been rocked by Sirius Blacks escape and how he had escaped the Dementor's kiss at Hogwarts. Her captors laughed at how Black was like a ghost, the other had mentioned how everywhere Black had been the grim had been seen also. She had smirked at this as she sat cross legged in her cell her hands rested gently on her knees as she meditated. The cut on her face still bled from where she had been hit and the bruises were fading but it was the bite on her neck that was the most prominent. Since that fateful day when she had watched Sirius corner Peter in an alleyway she had known something was wrong. She had been meeting AJ and Lucy at the coffee shop before they headed to the church but she had spotted Sirius first and it was how angry he had looked that made her worry. It wasn't until she woke up weeks later in St Mungo's did they tell her what had happened; more importantly it had been Remus who had stayed with her that filled in the blanks. She had hit her head pretty hard against the pavement when she had been thrown back from the explosion and the first thing she asked was if the baby was okay, it had been and she had never been more relived in her life. She had vowed than when she had recovered she would sort out the mess Sirius had gotten himself into but she never got to. When a doctor had came to check up on her after the New Year he had knocked her out and she woke up in the cell she currently sat in.

They had told her to remain calm and that in a few days she would feel much better, they had been talking about the binding and when it severed they had chained her and bound her magic. If she fought she was beaten but when she asked why they avoided her stomach they had told her they wanted the child for something more important. When the nine months had arrived and she finally did go into labour a little boy had been born who she managed to hold for a short time but in that time she noticed the black tuft of hair and the grey eyes, the splitting image of his father.

Cain Regulas Black was quickly ripped from her grasp and she watched in horror at how they held the baby up over a coffin and slit its throat. She had screamed something that she never thought she was capable of and pushed herself of the slab she had given birth on but her strength faltered and she watched from her place on the ground as the blood of her son, the blood of Merlins heir and the grim, fell onto the coffin before it shook and fell open. A black nailed, wrinkly hand emerged from the darkness before a hiss filled the air. She had growled and pushed herself up of the ground attacking the first person she got who in turn hissed, grabbed her by the neck and bit. Her legs and gone weak before the vampire let her fall to the floor. She wouldn't become one of them they hadn't drained her enough for her to turn but they had told her that the son she had just gave birth to would awaken someone that would aid the return of the dark lord. She had felt like giving up that day but months later something stirred within her and now she sat patiently waiting for the perfect opportune moment.

"They say it could take years before she regains her strength." One guard said.

"I think we should be more worried about Morgaine finding out her sister is back." The other replied.

"Lady Morgana will revolt at the sight of her sister on the other side."

"I don't think so; I think this is all we need to finally get the Black family back on the right side. Sirius has already played his part and he did it quite sneakily too."

"You honestly think that guy is a death eater, Sirius Black would never become one no matter the cost, I seriously think there is more to what happened than every one is letting on." The first guard added.

"That's because it was Peter Pettigrew who blew up the street, he's the death eater." Alyssa informed them as she felt the heat of the setting sun leave her skin.

They turned and looked at her sitting cross legged on the floor and calm and collected as she had been a few months back. Nobody had managed to figure out how she changed from a screaming hysterical woman to the calm collected bounded witch she was now. One of the previous guards had said that it was when the first sighting of the grim emerged that she had gone into that state, another had said that the grim was coming for her. Alyssa had laughed at the idea of the grim coming to save her and merely told them that she'd save herself, they had laughed back at her. But now as the sun set and the moon rose Alyssa grinned and opened her eyes, the guards recoiled back at the sight of her green eyes turning black.

"If there is one thing anybody should have realised by now is how the moon affects a Sorceress." She said as she raised herself of the floor.

The guards readied their wands and prepared for anything she was to throw at them but she merely shook her head and turned to look at the rising moon. A shift in the air had alerted the rest of the ancient temples inhabitants and Guilder, the leader of the temple Vampires appeared in the doorway. He growled as the black eyed Sorceress stared back at him, a lop-sided grin on her face and as he went towards her she waved her fingers, folded her arms and with a nod, she disappeared.

"So I says to him, I says to him right if you want to buy this watch mate you're gonna have to give me that shiny sickle you have in your hand." Mundungus Fletcher drunkenly said.

"Please tell me you didn't trade it." Arthur Weasley groaned.

"I did and I'll tell you he not only took the watch which was actually broken but he gives me the sickle knowing it's worth a brave fortune."

"Dung, you have weirdest stories." Sirius laughed.

It had been nearly three years since he had escaped Azkaban and now he sat in his old family home surrounded by those who believed his innocence. It had taken a bit of time to convince them but eventually they had come to realise that he was telling the truth, especially after Ron, the boy who Peter had pretended to be a pet for, had told his parents what had happened that night in the shrieking shack. Sirius had been more than happy with the fact that not only Harry, his god son, had believed him but Remus did to and the two old friends soon rekindled that friendship. But when Dumbledore had told him that they needed a new place for the order and Sirius offered Grimmauld Place but when he had stepped through the door Remus had to hold him up as something washed over the old heir. He had remembered his mother's words about what would happen when he re-entered his old family home and Sirius could feel the ancient family magic flowing through his blood once more as he became the family's head of house. But what made him laugh the most was the quick wink his mother's portrait had sent him after she had finished her screaming. He had found a letter in her that she had left him explaining that the portrait was keeping the wards of the house in place and preventing the Malfoy's from occupying it. Sirius couldn't help but laugh at how clever his mom actually was and after explaining the letter his mother had given to him in his final year at Hogwarts to Remus it had helped him understand. By entering this house Sirius got the magic he was supposed to get from Alyssa's ascension and thus awakening his true potential, Sirius had quickly figured out that Morgaine had seen everything that would happen and warned his parents who in turn made plans to make sure their son's true potential was still awakened even if it meant letting him go.

"Your awfully quiet there Sirius, is everything alright?" Remus asked.

"Yeah, sorry I was just thinking." he replied.

"Don't strain yourself." Tonks, his Cousin Andromeda's daughter, had joked to which Sirius glared mockingly at her.

Before anyone could say anything they turned at the sound of Kreacher slamming his cupboard door shut just as magic in the house shifted, his mothers portrait started screaming that something was coming and as Arthur and Remus went to close her curtains the kitchen door had slammed shut. Sirius had sat there and felt a shift in the magic that surrounded the house, immediately he tapped into the house to activate the wards but something shot through him and his eyes snapped open as sharp crack resonated of the kitchen walls and hit the kitchen table. Sirius continued to sit there as he felt an all to familiar presence fill the room and as the smoke cleared the room a figure stood on the table her brown hair fallen rigidly around her bruised face.

"Hello poppet." Alyssa said before she collapsed backwards on the table.


	23. Never make a deal with death

**The Sorceress and the grim**

**Chapter 23**

**Never make a deal with death**

He had sat there even as the smoke had cleared and Alyssa lay unconscious on the table, Sirius had sat there as Molly Weasley rushed forward to check on her. He had sat there as Remus helped Arthur close the curtains to his mother's portrait; he had sat there as he watched Molly trying to wake the girl on the table up. Sirius had sat there half expecting something to fall from the ceiling and run her through just like what had happened to Alyssa's mother. He sat there right up to the point where Remus was shaking him trying to snap Sirius out of his daze. Sirius just pushed Remus away and stood up, walking over to the edge of table he picked up Alyssa's unconscious form and carried her upstairs warning everyone to stay away from the top floor.

"Who was that?" Harry had asked Remus when the sound of Sirius bedroom door slamming close echoed down the halls.

"That….Umm that was Alyssa, someone very close to your godfather." Remus had replied unsure of what to label the brunette.

"He never mentioned her." Hermione said as she pried Ron from her arm.

"That's because he believed she was dead, I had to tell him when he stayed with me that she had been kidnapped from St Mungo's after I left her for measly second." The werewolf grumbled.

"I'm sure he doesn't blame you." Harry comforted.

"After this…After seeing her in that state just you wait and see what he'll do, it won't be pretty."

She was a mess he knew that much and she was thinner than before, he didn't like it. Her brown hair was matted with dirt and dried blood and her body was covered in cuts and bruises. He was cleaning her up the best he could without undressing her but the clothes she was wearing were starting to become a bother. Sirius didn't have anything for to wear nor did he have any idea how he was going to get changed into them but as he went to unbutton her shirt Alyssa stirred and opened her eyes.

"Hello stranger." She mumbled as she reached up to touch his face.

"Need to get you out of these clothes." Sirius replied calmly.

"Getting down to business already, I like it." Alyssa joked but when she noticed the way his face remained passive she took on a more serious tone. "You'll have to help."

"Don't have much, think maybe some of my old jeans may fit you, not to sure." Sirius said as he began rummaging through his drawers.

Alyssa watched in silence as the ex-convict rummaged through drawers that held clothes that would no longer fit his frame, not due to his height but more his build. The last time she had seen him was when he had been as mad as anything and now in front of her stood a man she barely recognised but he could probably say the same thing about her. It was when Sirius stopped looking through the drawers and he hunched over did Alyssa pay more attention.

"I thought you were dead, you were lying so still and you weren't moving…You wouldn't move." Sirius choked.

She had tried to get up but her body ached and she felt drained after using the dark magic that ran through her veins, a source of magic she had yet to master and learn to control. At the sound of the bed creaking Sirius turned round to see Alyssa trying to get up and he rushed to her side. He had sensed the dark magic that had tried penetrating through the house's walls but when the magic sent back a signal saying it was friendly did Sirius let it in and when he saw it was Alyssa he had been less than impressed. He was happy to see her there was no doubt about it but knowing that she used magic she was not supposed to be using, magic he knew she hadn't mastered yet, he had been annoyed but seeing her in the state she was he had began to think that maybe she didn't have a choice.

"What happened to you?" he asked quietly.

"Many things." She replied.

But instead of telling him she raised her hand and placed her fingers to her forehead and drew out a thin silvery thread before placing it against Sirius' own forehead. Sirius sat there with his eyes closed as he watched her memories of the past 12 years play over in his head. He had hoped that maybe she had been living in peace but when Remus had told him she had gone missing he began to think the worse, but what he thought was nothing compared to this. She had been mainly locked up like he had with her magic bound so she couldn't cast, he watched as she fought at the start but as the months raged her on she became scared. Sirius watched as she gave birth to his son and he watched as his baby boy was ripped from his mother's arms and slaughtered like a lamb. But he watched as Alyssa gained enough strength from the moon itself to tap into the darker magic she would have inherited from her mother and used that to apparated straight into Grimmauld. The house would have sensed someone trying to get past the walls which would have warned him but when the magic had told him it was friendly he felt its familiarity.

"It was a boy." Sirius said quietly.

"They used him to awaken Morgana, I don't know if they succeeded in bringing her back but he brought something back."

"The child of Merlins heir and the grim, a Rivas and a Black."

"You accepted it; you've accepted you're the grim." Sirius nodded to her and her face lit up. "I knew you did, I felt it, I felt something make me stronger then people started seeing the grim everywhere."

"The ascension has passed Aly, we can't get that connection back."

"No but I did one better." Alyssa smirked. "I at least managed to become a Black."

"Oh really and how pray tell did you do that." Sirius said darkly.

"You remember that letter I had you sign."

"Some sort of pre-nuptial thing"

"More like a marriage certificate." Sirius jaw dropped at this and his eyes narrowed. "All that needed to be done was for your mom to sign it on the day we were supposed to get married which she did and I became a Black after I signed it."

"But that isn't possible there needed to be witnesses."

"Since when does your family follow the law." Alyssa laughed. "There was a witness, your mother witnessed me signing it and I witnessed you signing it and I witnessed your mother signing it.

"Tree doesn't say anything about it; you're not on the family tree." Sirius grumbled.

"The tree can be manipulated." She replied simply.

Sirius had to agree on that matter his mother had shown him how to manipulate the family tree into thinking family members were dead when they weren't. So naturally hiding a marriage would have been an easy task if she wanted to keep it quiet. Sirius couldn't help but admire just how sly and clever his family was even though there were times he hated the lot of them he had to admit that they would do anything to protect any member of the family. Looking down at the girl lying in his bed Sirius couldn't but smile as he dropped a pair of old jeans a t-shirt onto her head. He may have lost his son but he had gained a wife in the process and as he helped her slip out of her dirty clothes that he quickly set fire to and dumped them in the bin Sirius placed gentle kisses to her shoulder neck and temple before wrapping his arms around her and holding onto her thin frame as if she was going to slip away from him.

"M'lady, we couldn't stop her she just vanished."

"Do not worry, Guilder." An ancient old voice sounded. "We will see one another again soon."

"But what of the prophecy Lady Morgana, should the grim get Merlins staff to the Sorceress our plans could be thwarted." Guilder said as he stared worryingly into his mistress' eyes.

"That will be easily taken of, once my strength is restored we will pay a little visit to my darling sister and settle this family feud once and for all." Morgana smirked.

The ancient witch looked aged beyond her years as her skin was stretched over her bones, her thin black hair barely covered the bald patches on her head and those dark almost black eyes gleamed dangerously from the shadows as she studied her loyal followers. Many of them were vampires some were death eaters that had defected from Voldemort's side to Morgana's after learning of her arrival back into the world of the living. The newly revived dark lord had not been impressed until he learned the dark witch was on his side he had overlooked the matter and merely sent word that he looked forward to her own return.

"Send word that I need some aid preferably in the form of family to help me gain a bit more strength." Morgana smirked.

Guilder bowed before apparating out of sight and the witch glowered around at her subjects, she had once been a royal princess loved by all but after Merlin destroyed her she had been left powerless and forced to wonder the underworld like a simple worm. But she had felt a familiar presence in the underworld and had caught sight of familiar grey eyes and hair black as night. She had watched as the giant dog that guarded the gates of the underworld swallowed her great grandson before the dog vanished into a flash of smoke and took the form of her grandson again. Morgana had almost felt like a young girl again at how giddy she had become at what she had just witnessed. One of her great grandsons was the grim and if what she had heard in the underworld was true then he was linked the last remaining heir of Merlin himself and when the blood from their son had dripped onto her coffin and woken her she hadn't felt more alive. But it wouldn't be enough to sustain her she needed more and the person she had met in the underworld helped her find out the quickest and easiest way to gain her strength back.

In the underworld she had met a charming man named Callcus Rivas who had told her he had been working on a way that would help her gain strength faster, he had initially thought that just blood from various people would help he quickly found that pure blood was the strongest as long as it wasn't tainted by anything else. The blood of family is usually the strongest and in his lab he had the blood of his poorly deceased wife Ezra, Merlins previous heir before she met her untimely demise. Morgana had quickly became fond Callcus and promised him that when she gained back her power she would bring him back and he will rule by her side. She had felt extremely pleased at what he had done for her before he was subjected to having his soul removed and his body eventually died.

"It was almost fate." Morganna whispered as she grinned to herself while she twirled a blue vial filled with blood that had been delivered to her, a certain vial that Callcus had said would be in a well hidden spot. With a quick flick of gaunt fingers she took of the cap and drowned its contents and almost instantly the blood of Ezra Rivas flowed through her and her strength and magic soared with the power that it consisted of.

"So this was them when they were in school."

"Yeah, they had just gotten together then. Honestly we had never seen him so happy it was like something had woken him up from a really good dream and he was living it."

Remus smiled as he flicked through the photo album he had retrieved from his house, Harry had been more than happy to set aside his chores and flick through the photos. In it they had comes across photos of his parents he hadn't seen yet and they soon came across a photo of Alyssa sitting on Sirius lap waving at the photo while he nuzzled her neck. Even in the photo Harry could see how Sirius' eyes sparkled with mirth, the photo seemed to be set on a loop and the couple were so wrapped up in each other they barely noticed the photo being taken. Sirius had his arms wrapped her around her waist and he twirled the end of her Ravenclaw tie in his fingers while he nibbled on her ear.

"They had been so wrapped up in each other that James thought it would be funny to capture it on film, they barely noticed until Sirius caught sight of your mom taking the photo, Alyssa was more than happy to bounce on his lap and wave at the camera." Remus laughed.

"Bet Sirius was more focused on what happened afterwards." Ron laughed.

"Padfoot took his relationship with Alyssa seriously, as far as I'm aware I don't think those two actually slept together until well after graduation when she moved in with him."

"Did they get a place straight after?" Harry asked.

"No we didn't." Sirius said from the doorway, "Alyssa went and joined a fashion school in France before dropping out and moving back to England. She moved into mine after a fight with my mother."

"Wait you mean she lived here." Hermione gasped.

"My parents were her god-parents surely you've done your history Hermione." Sirius grinned.

"There isn't really much on her, just how her family descends from Merlin and she's Merlins last heir. It talks mainly about the feud between your two families and the binding between you two." The young witch replied.

"Speaking of which I'm guessing that severed." Remus asked.

"Yeah…It was like something snapped and the ring just vanished….Still got the nasty burn." Sirius grumbled as he rubbed his hand.

"How is she anyway?"

"Asleep, I need to talk to you anyway."

Sirius led Remus up to the library were he showed Remus an open book that showed an image of Morgana. Beside it lay another book about vampires and Sirius had circled similarities between the two of them and the werewolf quickly noticed what his friend was getting at. Looking up Remus watched as Sirius pulled out another book hidden behind the bookcase and set it down on the table were he caught sight of the title _The_ _Black family history._

"In here is the entire contents of my family, it updates on its own and here on this page is Morgana's new entry."

Sirius had turned to the last page in the book which showed Morgana back from the dead surrounded by the very image of vampires. Her skin looked as gaunt as Sirius; had once been and her dark eyes were hollow and what were once smooth long locks of dark raven hair was now tatty straw like strands with bald patches, she seemed to stare right your soul.

"So she's back…" Remus said slowly.

"They used my son's blood to bring her back."

"What" Remus gaped.

"Aly was pregnant its one of the reason why I switched, the ones that kidnapped her were working for Morgana and used mine and Aly's son to bring her back, the child of Merlin and a Black, the Sorceress and the grim."

"Padfoot I don't know what to say, I'm sorry…I-"

"Forget about it." Sirius interrupted. "I want to concentrate on getting Alyssa's strength back up so we can prepare for Morgana's return, I need to get in touch with my grandfather and Morgaine and let them know."

"Everything is being monitored especially anything to Arcturus, nobody trusts him as the French Minister of Magic."

"Yeah that was definitely a shock to read about, look as long as this book gets to one of them then its fine. They need to know what's going on and I really don't want to let Aly out of my sight not until we've dealt with Voldemort, Harry still needs me."

"We'll figure something out." Remus murmured.

"I hope so, I don't know how much longer I can stay in hiding and it's killing me."

"Maybe Alyssa can provide you with an alibi, she was there she must have seen something."

"To much time has passed Moony anything that comes forward now will be chucked to the side and anyway who is going to listen to the girl who everyone knows is devoted to me." Sirius grumbled as he took out a cigarette and lit it, breathing in the sweet nicotine.

Remus didn't reply instead he watched as Alyssa appeared in the doorway dressed in one of Sirius old AC/DC T-shirts and a pair of jeans. Her eyes were dark and her hair was damp as if she'd just got out of a shower, staring around she caught sight of the two old friends before pointing her finger at the bookcase and bringing out a book that turned out to be a box that held both her wand and Sirius' old one.

"I had this weird dream were Morgana was drinking my mother's blood and she's seeking to get hold of some family blood to help her gain more strength." Alyssa said, "The funny thing is, she's messing with death and last time I checked Sirius your death…So…"

"So…In the end it's going to be a lot simpler me putting her in her place, I've already figured that out but we both know that is not how it's going to go down." Sirius continued.

"And what if she gets the family on her side, Morgaine has been longing for her sister's return." The brunette informed

"That is why I need to get there first; your family now and they should still protect you even with the binding gone, that was my mother's mission."

"Maybe we can use that…If Morgana gets your family on her side we could find out what she's planning through them. Morgaine may stay loyal to her sister but your father's side of the family wont." Remus reminded. "Everyone knows how the two sides of the Black family don't get along."

"You know Moony that is a very good point." Sirius said as he clapped his hands together and put his cigarette out.

"So we're using the divided family as a weapon against Morgana instead of doing it the old fashioned way of Merlin versus Morgana." Alyssa asked as her eyebrow arched.

"Pretty much, yeah." Sirius grinned.

Alyssa couldn't help but groan at how idiotic it sounded but if it worked then it could save her a lot of hassle. Even though she was Merlin's heir she didn't feel like she could match up to the power her great grandfather's staff held and if she wasn't ready then the power could overwhelm her and she could easily be persuaded onto the dark side and then they'd be faced with an even harder challenge, one she wouldn't want to put Sirius through. But if they found a way to take both Morgana and Voldemort down without the staff then it would make a big difference and Sirius wouldn't have to go through the pain of having to kill his own wife.


	24. Accepting fate

**The Sorceress and the grim**

**Chapter 24**

**Accepting fate**

Steady breathing is the key to completing any task as through it you learn to steady shaking hands and prevent nerves rising. It makes you more focused on the task at hand as well as paying attention to your surroundings. But even with her wolf like senses gifted through her Animagus form she still couldn't perfect the simple task of making toast without the aid of magic. Grumbling Alyssa fished out her wand from Sirius' old jeans and jabbed it at the toaster in frustration.

"You keep that up and you'll probably burn the kitchen down again."

"Hey, it wasn't my fault the cooker decided to spit out oil." Alyssa moaned as she shot a glare at the wanted man.

"Now is that anyway to treat your husband." Sirius chuckled as he patted her on the head. "Get Kreacher to cook something up, he'll be around here somewhere."

"Oh I did, he decided to run away instead." She replied, swatting his hand away.

"Probably still holds a grudge after you wanted a seven layer cake for your birthday, those things aren't easy you know"

In the many months she had been here Alyssa had quickly discovered not to cross paths with Mrs Weasley and Alastor 'Mad eye' Moody still seemed to be more suspicious of her. But her introduction to Harry had been almost catastrophic. Alyssa had been sat in the garden, letting the magic of the ancient house flow back through her tired limbs. Through the years she had lost control of her casting and simple spells had became a chore but as she had finally managed to control her casting and merge a ball of fire in her hands Harry had appeared behind her. It was when he had tapped her on the shoulder and she jolted out of her trance did the small ball erupt into something larger and set the boy on fire. Both their screams had caught the attention of the entire house, including Walburga Black's portrait and when Sirius had showed up he dozed the pair of them in the water he materialised from his hands before ordering her in doors while he wrapped his arms around his shaking god sons form.

"BLOOD TRAITORS, MUDBLOODS, HALF BREADS ALIKE TAINTING THE WALLS OF THIS HOUSE WITH THEIR….Oh hello dear."

The last time Alyssa had seen Walburga Black was on the morning of her wedding day and now as she stared at the live portrait of her she couldn't help but feel slightly more intimidated. The way her skin pulled over the pale features of her face and body made Alyssa recoil slightly, but when Walburga relaxed into her chair a smile crossed over her aged face she couldn't help but feel a little giddy.

"I didn't expect to see you back here." Walburga said softly. "I take it you've told my disgrace of a son that you two are now married."

"…In a sense…Wait disgrace why is he a disgrace, what happened now." Alyssa frowned as she looked up into the portraits eyes.

"Let's ignore the details shall we dear I'm more intrigued as to what brings you here."

Alyssa had told her in short everything that had happened over the years and at the mention or Morgana's return Walburga's features darkened and she walked right out of her portrait. Alyssa had stood their dumb struck for a few minutes before Walburga had returned and explained to her that she had passed the message to Orion's portrait that he would pass it onto Arcturus. Through him the French minister would be able to get in touch with Morgaine and make her aware of the situation which would make things a lot easier.

"Sirius had become more focused on how he was going to inform the family about the current proceedings but I guess we all kinda forgot how portraits like to dander of and gossip." Alyssa had laughed.

Her husband had appeared behind her and Walburga's expression had darkened again but before she could send a rant his way he had held up his hand and shoved Alyssa up the stairs before shooting a glare over his shoulder to his mother's portrait. Over time Sirius was beginning to hate the way his mother had done things, the more he thought about it the more he began to realise it was down to the fact that he just hated her portrait. Sirius had spent hours explaining to the downtrodden Alyssa the consequences of her actions regardless of how she had told him it was an accident he still continued to remind her that he would rather she went back to learning basics instead of something she had made up. She had snapped back at him that meditating had kept her sane over the years she had been locked up and that he should try it sometime so he didn't look so menacing all the time. They had glared darkly at each other for a few minutes before she launched herself from the bed, tackled Sirius to the ground and rammed her tongue down his throat. She had intended to take things the whole way and she most certainly didn't intend for Sirius to return as eagerly as he did when she felt his erection against her leg.

"You have no idea," Sirius moaned into her mouth "How much I want you."

She had never been more relieved to be off her feet at the way he had spoken; his voice had always made her knees weak and turns her into putty in his hands. Sirius had used that to his advantage a few times but she couldn't really complain. But as the clothes began to be discarded Sirius had soon became less inclined to carry on and she didn't really understand why. He had placed his head on her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her semi-naked frame and mumbled a tiny apology against her skin. Alyssa had to re-think her actions as she watched a man she was used to seeing as an immoveable force turn into something she couldn't explain. He was broken and lay at her feet in a thousand tiny pieces and she couldn't help but want to piece him back together. Rolling out from underneath him and making sure he stayed on his stomach Alyssa straddled his back and placed her hands on his thin shoulders. When he had informed her of his Animagus ability she quickly sought out all the spots that would make his leg shake and his body moan through a heated sensual massage.

Breathing in, Alyssa's hands warmed as the fire within her heated her skin before running her hands over his shoulders and down his sides, slipping her hands under his shirt she ran them up his spine and back over his shoulders before reaching up to his neck and scratching behind his ears. Sirius had made a noise between a chuckle and a moan into his pillow as she repeated the process and after a few minutes he allowed her to discard his shirt. Merlin's heir soon caught sight of why he wanted to remain clothed; his pale, skinny back lay marked with scars, a dark memory of his time inside Azkaban. Burns around his shoulder blades signalled chains around his body and knowing him Sirius would have put up a fight.

"Sirius, I…"

He had stayed silent and shifted for her to get of him but she kept her place and began kissing every scar, burn and mark while running one hand up and down his side and the other feeding through his hair. A lot of people had chosen to ignore the rumours of the mistreatment of Azkaban's prisoners; many of them had admitted that they deserved to be tortured just like some of their victims. The first six months of Azkaban were the hardest as prisoners screamed and raged at the guards who quickly beat them into a quiet submission. Over time the guards had lessened their treatment of Azkaban's occupants but some of them still toyed with the prisoners and used them as play things. But as Alyssa kissed up his spine and nibbled on that little bit of skin between his neck and shoulder Sirius turned around and captured her lips with his own.

"Help me forget." He had breathed into her hair.

She had merely nodded and in turn they discarded each others clothes before forgetting her nerves and sat on top of him. It was a position she wasn't comfortable with as she hated being watched but this time she wanted to be the one in control to help him forget about the past for just a few moments and as she eased herself on to him time seemed to stand still for a moment. His hands on her hips had awoken something within her as she moved above him and in turn he met her thrusts. The unlocked door went unnoticed as Sirius raised himself and wrapped his arms around her, the two of them rocking in union. But as their peaks crept to its highest and Sirius fell back against the mattress Alyssa had thrown her head back and her eyes shone as a vision of something she never wanted to see ripped through her. She had reached out to him and as their hands touched Sirius dragged her towards his chest as her body shook with a mixture of ecstasy and fear. The infamous Black held onto her shaking form as she remained quiet, something he chose not to pester her about, before the pair of them fell into a deep sleep were both of them were plagued with visions of the future.

When she had woken up this morning in his arms pressed against his bare chest and a nervous ache had settled in her chest at what she had witnessed last night. Alyssa had seen something she had begun to doubt but after she had seen how Sirius was going to die she began to realise how serious the fates were. The Sorceress and the grim were together; the fates were not happy and as punishment had shown her how Sirius would die. Alyssa didn't know if Sirius had seen her death but she didn't feel like asking him, she couldn't give him anything more to worry about.

"Look I'm sorry for having a go at you." Sirius had mumbled when she had remained quiet. "You've been awfully quiet since last night are you okay?"

"I'm fine; just have a lot on my mind." She replied.

"You don't regret it do you, sleeping together that is."

"Oh god no, not at all."

"You saw it to." Sirius had said suddenly as he noticed how she couldn't look at him.

She didn't have to ask him what he meant with the way his face lost colour and the way his eyes stared intently into hers with a mixture of fear and determination, his had been more like a dream rather than a vision. In it he had been watching as if through somebody else's eyes as a battle took place, he watched as she fought alongside others on the Hogsmeade battlefield. But with just a wand Sirius knew how powerless she actually was and soon got overwhelmed. But a flash of green and a scream after made Alyssa turn around and watch as her old friend AJ fell to the ground. It was that single second Alyssa hesitated that a death eater slashed his wand downwards and something slashed across her back. He had watched at how she had stumbled before realising how out numbered they were before calling a retreat and running. Everything seemed to skip forward to where the sun had risen and Alyssa fought alongside McGonagall, the first thing Sirius noticed was how worn down Alyssa looked and held her hand over a wound on her side that was bleeding badly. But it was when she pushed the old transfiguration teacher out of the way and took the same curse that had hit her earlier in Hogsmeade did she fall to the ground. She watched helplessly as the death eater closed in on the weakened McGonagall before dragging herself forward and grabbed the death eater's leg before muttering a few words. As her eyes flashed black the death eater's magic seeped into Alyssa and as he fell to the ground she stood and dropped her hands to her side. Sirius observed as her form seemed to disappear just as a flash of green tore through her. Alyssa's body separated into particles of pure magic and energy that rose to the top of what remained of Hogwarts' great doors and materialized into a statue. As the last particle touched down on the statue of his wife a ripple of energy shot down and across the grounds causing the enemy to dissolve into black dust as what was left of the great schools wards played its final part. He had woken up after that and the image of Alyssa standing as a statue with her hands held out in the shape of a triangle above Hogwarts remained implanted inside his mind. But what he had noticed throughout the entire dream was he had not once seen himself and it made him realise that his time had come long before hers.

"Do you believe the tale now?" Alyssa asked.

"I didn't want to; I had almost started to believe that maybe that part wasn't true." Sirius said quietly. "Throughout it though I wasn't there, I wasn't there to protect you."

"You go before me then." Alyssa whispered softly.

"Maybe now would be the best time then for me to teach you what my mother couldn't, teach you how to use black magic."

"The books are lost Sirius, they were long forgotten when the old Manor was destroyed."

"No, they're in the vault in the basement." Sirius grinned.

"What if we get interrupted then what."

"The kids went back to school ages ago, the others are probably back doing Ministry stuff and Molly's cleaning, Remus…Well he knows not to interrupt mind you he could probably help he knows quite a lot about it shockingly enough." Sirius explained.

"I know enough about what." Remus had said from the doorway.

"I'm gonna teach Alyssa black magic and you're a smart ass so you'll know a brave bit about it."

"Don't make me hit you, because I will and I'll do it with this broom in my hands." Remus glared.

"Promises, promises." Sirius laughed.

"Go you on I said I'd help Molly help clean up the rest of this place."

"If anyone asks I'm up feeding Buckbeak okay"

Remus nodded and left as Sirius took Alyssa down into Grimmauld's basement which consisted of boxes upon boxes of old family junk that had been collected over the years. At the back stood the portrait of his father, Orion Black, who stood staring menacingly at them with a cane in his left hand and his right hand in the pocket on his chest. Sirius held up his hand that bore the Black family crested ring and as Orion acknowledged that his son had took on his role as head of the family house he banged his cane of the ground three times before his portrait opened towards them. As Sirius led his wife into the vault a light immediately came on and shone down on the books that stood cased in the centre of the room, the books of white and black magic, life and death, good and evil, the books of Merlin.

"It isn't going to be easy, trust me I've tried." Sirius explained as he lifted the lid of a dark green book, Alyssa could have sworn the air went that little bit colder.

"You always used to say I wasn't ready to handle this side of magic."

"I think now we don't have much of a choice with time slipping away but first things first give me that wand."

She grudgingly handed it over and as Sirius waved it over the book the lock fell open and he set her wand beside it before he turned to the fourth page in. The first thing he had to help her do was learn how to tap into it and remain in control, if she let the dark magic that flowed through her it would take over and she would be unable to control her actions. He had choked on his words when he had confessed that it was his duty to destroy her if she fell into its clutches and onto the other side which made her understand more why the Black family were less inclined to teach her. But before she could even begin to tap into it Remus had burst in saying how Harry and his friends had gone to the Ministry thinking Sirius was being held captive by Voldemort. Alyssa's blood ran cold as a shiver ran through her as she watched Sirius bolt out of the room and follow his old friend. She had chased after him and before he got out the door she grabbed onto his back and turned him around.

"Don't go, please don't go." She begged.

"I have to, Harry's in danger I have to protect him." Sirius replied as he cupped her face. "I'll be back before you know it."

Sirius placed a kiss to her forehead and with a cocky grin aimed towards her he walked out the door and apparated with the others to the Ministry. Walburga's portrait had warned Alyssa to prepare for the worst as Molly placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. She spent the rest of the evening sat on the couch trying to tap into her magic with the green book sat in front of her. But when she finally managed to locate it and channel its energy into her hands the sound of sombre voices reached her ears and before she could gently let go of her grasp on the darker magic within her she jumped up and went to greet them. But she wasn't prepared for the sight that stood before her as Remus looked up with red puffy eyes and immediately walked towards her before engulfing her into a warm embrace. It took her brain minutes to figure out what was wrong with the scene before her and as the werewolf mumbled an apology in her ear and placed a familiar wand in her hand did Alyssa realise just what was wrong.


End file.
